With the upcoming Duma elections this December and the presidential contest in March 2008, the Kremlin appears to be both confident and worried. President Vladimir Putin continues to enjoy high approval ratings and faces no genuine political rivals, yet authoritarian tendencies have risen sharply. Political groups failing to adhere to the party line continue to be harassed, marginalized, and prevented from political registration.
 
Although Russia currently enjoys stable economic growth and increasing foreign investment, Western-owned companies in the energy sector face stern pressure from the Kremlin to relinquish their assets to state-owned companies. In foreign policy, though the Kremlin claims the role of peacemaker in both Iran and Palestine, Russia continues to utilize energy supplies as a tool of diplomatic pressure against its former republics. It has threatened to target Europe in protest of missile defense installations in Eastern Europe, blocked the resolution of Kosovo’s independence bid, and repeatedly shielded a nuclear bomb-bound Iran.
 
Can the Russian opposition mount a successful challenge to the Kremlin during the Duma and presidential elections? Will Putin’s model of “sovereign democracy”--the centralization of political and economic powers--retain broad popular support? Will it prove compatible with economic growth or will it begin to impede it? Is a new Cold War inevitable between Russia and the West? On September 18, 2007 AEI will host leading scholars and policymakers from the United States and Russia to discuss these and other questions. Topics will include Russia’s domestic policy, economic prospects, and foreign affairs.