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COUNTRY INSIGHTS

Reshaping the Agenda
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Jun 2014

An agreement to establish the Eurasian Economic Union bringing Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was signed with no obvious substantial progress achieved. Most new parts of the agreement either deal exclusively with institutional matters or address issues that are years ahead in the future making th...

Changing the Rules
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 08 May 2014

Increasing international pressure and sanctions by the US and its allies have been used by Russia’s ruling elite as an excuse to intensify control over society at large. However, top-level decision-makers would also like to maintain tighter control over the national elite, and for that reason Pre...

Russia Enlargement
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 04 Apr 2014

Russia has made a dramatic foreign policy turn, disregarding all previously valued compromises with the West, by including the Crimean peninsula in the Russian Federation despite the objections of the Ukrainian leadership, the EU and the US. This will also impact Russia’s relations with Asia as i...

All Eyes on Ukraine
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Mar 2014

The Russian leadership has been considering every option to keep Ukraine in the orbit of its influence for both rational and emotional reasons. However, a lack of real expertise or structured approach towards a Ukraine policy in Russia has resulted in over half a dozen government officials’ parti...

Battle for Public Space
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Feb 2014

The United People’s Front has grown into a major political force two years after it seemingly lost its momentum following the December 2011 elections. The organization now enjoys both public interest and government support, which allows it to pressure local government officials and compete with t...

All The President’s Power
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 07 Jan 2014

Two more terror attacks taking place in Russia’s large southern city of Volgograd (following an attack in October) challenge both the security arrangements of the coming February 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and Putin’s anti-terrorism strategy in general. Lack of coordination between various law en...

Top-Level Individual Tasks
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 05 Dec 2013

Putin’s personal involvement and intense economic handwringing in Ukrainian–EU relations allowed him to halt and postpone the Association agreement. However, his goal is beyond that, as Russia is trying all means to coerce Ukraine into joining the Customs Union. The Russian leadership has much ec...

Old Problems Resurface
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 07 Nov 2013

Migration issues have topped the Russian political agenda after a tragic incident in a Moscow suburb. Legal and illegal foreign and domestic migrants have been engaged in various conflicts with the traditional population throughout the country, sometimes causing street protests and riots. In abse...

Stability Reaffirmed
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 04 Oct 2013

Sergei Sobyanin won the Moscow Mayor’s election but with a small voter turnout, and voter support for himself only marginally higher than 50%. That may cause his position in the elite hierarchy to become less prominent. His main opponent, Alexey Navalny, won more than a quarter of the vote, despi...

Stability Reaffirmed
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 04 Oct 2013

Sergei Sobyanin won the Moscow Mayor’s election but ensured a small voter turnout and voter support for himself only marginally higher than 50%. That may make his position in the elite hierarchy become less prominent. His main opponent Alexey Navalny won over a quarter of all votes despite having...

Minor Rotations
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Sep 2013

The Ministry of Economic Development, the Central Bank and the Presidential Administration are currently engaged in a process of widespread top management rotation. New heads of agencies are bringing in their former employees, thereby significantly influencing the work of agencies as a whole. Alt...

Sobyanin a Shoo-In
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Aug 2013

Several forces among the ruling elite are challenging one another, though all are trying to help Sergei Sobyanin be reelected as mayor to Moscow to this September. This situation has given challenger Alexey Navalny a popularity boost. Though his chances as still mostly theoretical, his treatment ...

Game of Courts
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 05 Jul 2013

The recent presidential announcement of the unification of Russia’s Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Arbitration of Russia, which contradicts a previously approved strategy, may be an indication of Putin’s work on the Prime Minister’s retirement plan. Dmitry Medvedev was the architect of Ru...

Knockout
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 06 Jun 2013

Vladislav Surkov's resignation was a tough hit for Dmitry Medvedev significantly decreasing his effectiveness as the Prime Minister. An authoritative mastermind of the national political system, he remained efficient and influential even outside the Presidential Administration and was responsible...

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