AEI.Org: Scholar: Leon Aron

Darkness on the Edge of Monotown

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Russia remains dangerously close to a serious breakdown of authority, with the most vulnerable places being company towns.

Samizdat in the 21st Century

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Looking around Russia now, Putin's new critics see only the ruins of unfulfilled promises and wasted wealth.

Why Obama's First Outreach to Russia Is Bound to Fail

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Washington has offered to sacrifice a pawn for the queen.

Ending the Gas Wars

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Russia, the Ukraine, and the European Union all have work to do in finding a long-term solution to Europe's energy needs.

The Prop of the Knout

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A historicalsurvey of Russian Orthodoxy suggests the danger of the church once again becoming an appendage of the Russian state.

Russia's Woes Spell Trouble for the U.S.

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The Obama administration's inclinationto show good will toward Russia must be balanced against firm support for that country's return to political and economic liberalization.

21st-Century Sultanate

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Vladimir Putin has harnessed patronage, nepotism, and cronyism to build Russia's corporatist state.

The Problematic Pages

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

To understand Vladimir Putin, we must understand his view of Russian history.

Russia's Next Target Could Be Ukraine

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The Kremlin will say there is a Russian minority to "protect" in Ukraine.

What Russia's War Reveals

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The choice to invade Georgia exposes the raw disdain for democracy that drives Moscow's authoritarian government.

Back in the USSR?

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Russia could soon face the same crises that Leonid Brezhenv's Soviet Union faced in the 1970s.

Putin's Cold War

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Let us refrain from the ritual, silly hand-wringing and accusations on the subject of "losing" Russia. Russia is not (and never has been) ours to lose.

Putin's Cold War

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Let us refrain from the ritual, silly hand-wringing and accusations on the subject of "losing" Russia. Russia is not (and never has been) ours to lose.

Twenty Years after a Revolution by Culture

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Glasnostwas an astounding act of the spiritual self-liberation of a great nation.

Jihadi Murat

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Islam has been a major and durable aspect of Russia's history, geography, and culture.

We'll Always Have Putin

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

It is likely that Vladimir Putin will find a way to continue to serve as Russian president.

Russia's Succession Crisis

Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:00 +0100

What will be the outcome--and fallout--of the 2008 Russian presidential election?

Yeltsin's Legacy

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Over all, Boris Yeltsin will be remembered as a great liberator.

The Yeltsin Legacy

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

What are we to make of Boris Yeltsin,the man who led post-Soviet Russia in its first nine years?

Another Russia?

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The chance for real democratic change in Russia is based in its history.

Russia's Turn

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Leon Aron responds to a letter to the editor about his article "What Does Putin Want?" which appeared in the December 2006 issue of Commentary magazine.

Russia's Oil Woes

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Moscow’s attachment to statist economic policy is undermining its bid for global energy dominance.

The Man Who Knew Russia Too Much

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100

The death of Yuri Levada, the dean of Russian sociologists and pollsters, signifies the end of a remarkable era for Russia's intelligentsia.

Literary Engagement

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Literary, social, and, in the end, political themes of Russian art have resonated with every generation of Russians.

What Does Putin Want?

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Is Russia heading forward or backward under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin?

Ideas of Revolutions and Revolutionary Ideas

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0100

This path-breaking book for the first time seeks to explain the origins and the course of the latest Russian Revolution by placing it in the context of the great revolutions of the past.

Ideological Drift

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Russian and American values are so different that the two countries are drifting in different directions.

Only Iran Can Disrupt the G8 Summit

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Are Washington and Russia growing apart? If so, what is causing the rift?

The "Mystery" of the Soviet Collapse

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0100

As we approach the fifteenth anniversary of the demise of the Soviet Union, its sudden collapse remains mysterious.

Democracy in Russia

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Can a rejuvenated Republican party unify the liberal opposition to Putin?

Where Is Russia Headed?

Mon, 09 May 2005 00:00:00 +0100

President Vladimir Putin's government increasingly deviates from the democratic achievements of the 1990s in favor of greater re-centralization of politics and economy.

Death and the Dictator

Sun, 17 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Stalin: A Biography, by Robert Service, and Stalin and His Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him, by Donald Rayfield.

Libertystan

Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Leaders of former Soviet states may not be able to withstand the authoritarian temptation long enough for democracy to take firm root, but citizens will push forward until they live in freedom.

Response to "Is Russia Going Backward?"

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100

This letter to the editor responds to letters commenting on Aron's original piece "Is Russia Going Backward?" from Commentary.

Standoff in Ukraine

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0100

If, as expected, the pro-Western Ukrainian presidenital candidate ultimately wins the election, he will need to pay careful attention to the Russian-leaning millions.

Is Russia Going Backward?

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Severely handicapped by its past and with the backslidings and shortcomings of the present, Russia's epochal experiment in liberty, popular self-rule, and non-belligerency is far from over.

How Reagan Made Soviet Society Face Its Failures

Thu, 10 Jun 2004 00:00:00 +0100

For Ronald Reagan, there was no "parity," nuclear or otherwise, between America and the Soviet Union. The former was superior for one and only one reason: its people were free.

Cool the Revolution

Fri, 21 May 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Revolutionary breaks in Russia's political and economic arrangements will take zigzags from democratic breakthroughs to reactionary retrenchment to find a balance between old and new.

A Champion for the Bourgeoisie

Mon, 01 Mar 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Will we look back at the popularity of Grigory Chkhartishvili'sFandorin cycle as a signal that post-Soviet Russia has given the latter at least a sporting chance?

The (Russian) Empire Strikes Back

Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0100

The lessons of the Yukos affair.

Crime and Punishment for Capitalists

Thu, 30 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

The interests of Russia's industrial leaders may not always coincide with society's, but by winning the right to promote those interests, the oligarchs can advance Russian democracy.

Cold Warrior

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era by William Taubman.

Response to Readers' Letters

Sat, 01 Feb 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's Revolution

Fri, 01 Nov 2002 00:00:00 +0100

Post-Communist Russia's ten-year-old experiment in democracy, civil and political liberty, and a free market is not unlike the movement of a long, disorderly caravan.

Structure and Context in the Study of Post-Soviet Russia

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 00:00:00 +0100

The velvet revolution's greatest impact was on the nature and pace of the economic reforms, some key aspects of which were molded by the industrial nomenklatura.

Russian Oil and U.S. Security

Sun, 05 May 2002 00:00:00 +0100

With another oil shock looming, the need to broaden the range of America's energy sources has become urgent.

Restauration

Wed, 01 May 2002 00:00:00 +0100

The shift to a more open Russian economy has given rise to a post-Communist middle class, which consists of the young, the college-educated, and the residents of large cities.

Putin's Progress

Mon, 11 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0100

BeforeSeptember 11, 2001, few would have predicted that Russia would back the United States so firmly in its response to the terrorist attacks.

Poor Democracies

Mon, 16 Jul 2001 01:00:00 +0100

The post-Cold War era has produced something new in world history: an abundance of poor democracies.

A Space Station's Long Goodbye

Sat, 24 Mar 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Commentators used Mir's descent as a metaphor for Russia's fall, but the station's decommissioning is a sign ofRussia's liberation.

The Yeltsin Legacy

Sun, 30 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0100

The dramatic impact of Yeltsin.

Putin's Order of the Day

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Reflections on a Ravaged Century

Mon, 13 Mar 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Aron reviews Robert Conquest'sReflections on a Ravaged Century.

Chechnya in Context

Wed, 19 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

It's time to put the Chechnya conflict into the broader context of our long-term relations with Russia.

Boris Yeltsin, Man of the Decade

Mon, 17 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

At no time in the last eight years has the "de-Bolshevization of Russia"--which Boris Yeltsin embraced as his paramount goal in September 1991--seemed so secure.

Three Cheers for Russian Democracy

Mon, 03 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

The recent Russian elections show a strengthened democracy in that country.

How a Battered Boy Made Himself an Iron Man

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Biographer Leon Aron explains how President Yeltsin fought his way up in Russian society through a mixture of toughness and independence.

Is Russia Really Lost?

Mon, 04 Oct 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Cunning Ruse or the Final Throw of a Sick Leader?

Sun, 15 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Putin is Yeltsin's fifth prime minister ineighteen months, but lumping his appointment with the previous three changes in the government is misleading.

Russia

Mon, 19 Oct 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Is there a usable free-market past somewhere under the debris from Russia's financial meltdown?

Bolsheviks Have a Glint in Their Eye

Sun, 06 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0100

The Communist Party's recipe for economic revival is simple: a rapid return to fixed prices and state control.

Parliament Has Hobbled Yeltsin

Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0100

The Russian Communist Party's rejection of compromise with the acting prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin,set thestage for an escalation of the Russian political and economic crisis.

Boris's Last Chance

Mon, 31 Aug 1998 00:00:00 +0100

The next few weeks promise to be as fateful an occasion as any in Russian history for the reformers to prove that they know whattodo.

What Stalled Russian Reform

Fri, 12 Jun 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Russia must implement radical reforms.

The Remarkable Rise of Democratic Russia

Mon, 20 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Never has the modern Russian state been less imperialist, less militarized, less threatening to its neighbors and the world, and more receptive to Western ideals and practices than it is in 1998.

Yeltsin Crisis May Clear the Russian Air

Thu, 26 Mar 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Boris Yeltsin's Monday dismissal of the Russian government may have obscured his possible intentions, which could be part of the last grand political game of Yeltsin's career.

Yeltsin and Reform Survive

Sun, 23 Jun 1996 00:00:00 +0100

In the political configuration that emerged from the poll, a solid Yeltsin win in the second round on July 3 seems assured--provided that the turnout is at least equal to that on June 16.

Yeltsin Rises to the Challenge

Sun, 16 Jun 1996 00:00:00 +0100

Conventional wisdom in the Russian election today is largely doom and gloom.

The Cost of Velvet

Fri, 26 Jan 1996 00:00:00 +0100

Review of The Reincarnation of Russia, How Russia Became a Market Economy, and Privatizing Russia.

A Soviet PhD

Fri, 15 Dec 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The County Could Bypass This Piece of History

Sun, 10 Dec 1995 00:00:00 +0100

Don't Count This Street Fighter Out

Tue, 14 Nov 1995 00:00:00 +0100

A Word about Chechnya

Sun, 07 May 1995 00:00:00 +0100

If President Clinton, during his visit to Russia this week, were to confine himself solely to the official script, he would turn himself into a prop in a passion play enacted by the Kremlin.

A Different Dance

Sat, 01 Apr 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The internal condition of Russia has changed immensely for the better, and is continuing to change, though progress has not occurred as fast or as decisively as the Romantics had hoped.

Yeltsin on the Brink

Sun, 08 Jan 1995 00:00:00 +0100

As Russia winds down its first year under a post-Soviet constitution, the attention of the world is focused on the invasion of Chechnya, but it is only a symptom of an important development.

The Emergence of Russian Foreign Policy

Tue, 01 Nov 1994 00:00:00 +0100

Yeltsin's Next Nightmare

Sun, 14 Aug 1994 00:00:00 +0100

For the fourth year in a row, Russia is poised for an autumn that is likely to determine the course of its politics, not just for the balance of 1994 but for most of 1995 as well.

Russian Reflex

Sun, 19 Dec 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Surprise victory of the populist nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party emerged as the most important result after the adoption of the constitution.

Russian Vote Adds Up to a Backlash

Wed, 15 Dec 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Yeltsin Is Playing Poker for Democracy

Thu, 23 Sep 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Yeltsin's Vietnam

Sun, 22 Aug 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's involvement in the messy, bloody, and apparently endless conflict on its southern border may break the back of Russia's fledgling democracy.

Russia's Revolution

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Meticulously researched and textured with fascinating details, these essays "show" as well as "tell" where Russia has been in the past fifteen years and where it is going.

Yeltsin

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

In telling Yeltsin's story, the author recounts the struggles of a great nation at one of its most fateful moments and chronicles the twentieth century's last great revolution.

The New Russian Foreign Policy

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 23:00:00 +0100

The Russia that emerged from the ruins of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 is a new country, conducting a new foreign policy.

Beyond the "Grand Bargain": U.S.-Russian Cooperation on Iran

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:00:00 +0100

For Truth and Goodness: Russia's Moral Revolution, 1987-91

Mon, 11 May 2009 17:30:00 +0100

The Gas Wars: Causes, Forecasts, and Solutions for Russia, Ukraine, and the EU

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:30:00 +0100

The 2009 State of the Union: Change and Continuity

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +0100

Russia's Economic Crisis: How Deep? How Wide? How Lethal?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:00:00 +0100

A New White House Faces a Tougher Kremlin: Tackling Contentious Multilateral Issues in U.S. ...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:30:00 +0100

A New White House Faces a Tougher Kremlin: Tackling Contentious Multilateral Issues in U.S. ...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:30:00 +0100

The War in the Caucasus: An Initial Assessment

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:00:00 +0100

What Now for Russia?

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:00:00 +0100

The 2008 State of the Union

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:30:00 +0100

How Do the Stalin Archives Affect Views of the Past, Present, and Future?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:00:00 +0100

What's Wrong with the Russian Economy?

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:45:00 +0100

Understanding Political Violence and Repression in Our Times

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:00:00 +0100

Russia on the Eve of Elections: Continuity or Change?

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:00:00 +0100

Russia's Revolution: Essays 1989-2006

Mon, 14 May 2007 12:30:00 +0100

In Search of an Historic Yeltsin: The Man and His Era

Tue, 08 May 2007 14:00:00 +0100

The Russian Economy: “Irrational Exuberance” in an Election Year? With Yegor Gaidar, ...

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:30:00 +0100

The 2007 State of the Union

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:30:00 +0100

What Lies Beneath? U.S. Foreign and Domestic Policy after the 2006 Elections

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 10:00:00 +0100

Russian Foreign Policy Today: Ideology, Objectives, Tactics

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:30:00 +0100

Global Leadership?

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:00:00 +0100

Whither Russia's Oil?

Fri, 19 May 2006 10:00:00 +0100

The New NGO Law in Russia

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:00:00 +0100

The Orange Revolution: A Year After

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 14:00:00 +0100

Russia: Today, Tomorrow - and in 2008

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:00:00 +0100

Uzbekistan and the Bush Doctrine

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:00:00 +0100

Economic Trends in Putin's Russia

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:00:00 +0100

U.S. Policy toward Putin's Russia

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0100

AEI Events on the President's Visit to Europe

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:00:00 +0100

Foreign Policy in the Second Bush Administration

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 11:00:00 +0100

From De-Bolshevization to De-Baathification

Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:00:00 +0100

Terrorism in Russia

Tue, 21 Sep 2004 12:15:00 +0100

The Khodorkovsky Trial

Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:15:00 +0100

Rediscovering Pushkin

Thu, 06 May 2004 17:30:00 +0100

Four More Years of Putin?

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 12:15:00 +0100

The Russian Economy: Strategic Trends, Problems, and Opportunities

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 09:00:00 +0100

Foreign Investment in Russia

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 09:00:00 +0100

Catastrophe in Chechnya

Wed, 10 Dec 2003 09:00:00 +0100

The Russian Duma Elections

Mon, 08 Dec 2003 09:30:00 +0100

Russia

Tue, 04 Nov 2003 10:00:00 +0100

The Bush-Putin Summit

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:00:00 +0100

President George W. Bush's Visit to Europe

Fri, 30 May 2003 10:00:00 +0100

Picking Up the Pieces

Thu, 08 May 2003 10:00:00 +0100

America's Plan to Dispose of Weapons-Grade Plutonium

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 10:00:00 +0100

Russian Oil and U.S. Energy Security

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 10:00:00 +0100

Dangerous Liaisons

Thu, 20 Feb 2003 10:00:00 +0100

Russia

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 10:00:00 +0100

Evaluating the Bush-Putin Summit and the New Russia-NATO Partnership

Tue, 28 May 2002 10:00:00 +0100

Human Rights in Russia

Thu, 06 Apr 2000 15:00:00 +0100

Yeltsin's Legacy and Russia's Future

Fri, 17 Mar 2000 09:30:00 +0100

A Search for a Historic Yeltsin

Mon, 08 Nov 1999 17:30:00 +0100

Should the United States Aid the Former Soviet Union?

Mon, 13 Apr 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Threats in Eurasia

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Vladimir Putin's and his advisors' tendency toward greater state control and recentralization in politics, legal systems, federalism, and the economy is fraught with medium and short term risks.

Domestic Determinants of Russia's Policy toward the United States

Thu, 18 Mar 2004 00:00:00 +0100

In the next four years, Russian policy toward the United States will be shaped largely by the components of a powerful and complicated social and political trend.

A Search for a Historic Yeltsin

Mon, 08 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Yeltsin’s legacy--a distorted but functioning market economy, and a flawed but real multi-party democracy--appears impervious to the desperate thrashing about in the Kremlin.

The New Russia

Wed, 20 May 1998 00:00:00 +0100

An accord between Europe's largest (Russia) and its sixth most populous (Ukraine) nations is central to the stability of the post-Cold War European order.

Russia's "Monotowns" Time Bomb

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's continued drops in production, growing unemployment, and deeper impoverishment all converge in one economic, social, and political area: the country's 460 company towns.

The Button and the Bear

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The United States wants to hit the "reset button" in its relations with Russia, but the prospects for the items on the agenda are mixed at best.

"Who Is to Blame" and "What Is to Be Done"?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Russia is facing a systemic crisis, and the only way out of it lies in dismantling the defining political, economic, and social features of Putinism.

"Oil-for-Food" When Oil Is Down (and the Ruble Is Weak)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's population will find its access to food diminished by deep depreciation of the ruble, unemployment, and inflation.

The Georgia Watershed

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's invasion of Georgia was far more than a singular emergency operation.

The Politics of Memory

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A new textbook approved by Vladimir Putin reimagines Russian history to the detriment of the nation's post-Soviet moral renaissance.

Putinism

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The ideology, priorities, and policies of Vladimir Putin's Kremlin are almost certain to inform and guide Dmitri Medvedev's administration.

Putin-3

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Vladimir Putin has transformed Russian foreign policy both ideologically and politically since coming to power in 2000.

Was Liberty Really Bad for Russia?

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0100

There was a great deal in 1990s Russia besides "chaos."

Was Liberty Really Bad for Russia?

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Was the revolution responsible for Russia’s economic woes in the 1990s?

The Vagaries of the Presidential Succession

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The coming Russian presidential succession is far from a done deal.

Glasnost at Twenty

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the Russian revolution is a fitting occasion to assess the true scale and the impact of the national spiritual liberation known as glasnost.

Property, Democracy, Trust

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0100

While the pressures of its political culture are strong, there is no reason why a formula offor democratization, a free economy, and humanism cannot work for Russia.

The United States and Russia

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0100

The post-9/11 activist U.S. foreign policy cannot but be increasingly at odds with the Kremlin’s post-imperial “restoration.”

Russia's Oil

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Several structural tendencies may significantly jeopardize Russia’s ability to meet the world’s rapidly growing demand for oil.

The 2005 Moscow Election and the Future of Russian Politics

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0100

The Moscow City Duma election of December 2005 yields clues to national trends in voter attitudes and how the parties should strategize in advance of the 2007 national elections.

Liberty above All

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Forging a united opposition strong enough to contest the Kremlin's control over the Duma in 2007 and the presidency in 2008 is particularly urgent for the future of Russian democracy.

The Battle over the Draft

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0100

The outcome of the struggle between the Russian state and the society for democratic control over the armed forces will go a long way to defining Russia's path for years to come.

Institutions, Restoration, and Revolution

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Either the Putin regime must evolve toward full-blown "classic" authoritarianism or there will a reaffirmation and renewal of the freedom of media, judicial independence, and separation of power and property.

Putin's Risks

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Vladimir Putin's re-centralization raised the center of political gravity to the very top at precisely the time when the Russian state will need every available ounce of stability and maneuverability.

The Decline of the Communists

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0100

The decline of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation signals the waning appeal of a set of beliefs which commanded the loyalties of over one-third of the Russian electorate.

Privatizing Pensions

Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Russia's pension privatization epitomizes both the enormous progress achieved over the past decade and the equally huge obstacles still ahead on the road to "civilized" liberal capitalism.

The Putin Restoration

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0100

President Putin's reelection can be seen as the typical restoration after a period of revolution.

The Duma Election

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0100

In the recent Duma elections, Russian voters made what to them seemed like rational choices based on their immediate experiences and current political attitudes.

The YUKOS Affair

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Despite assurances by the government that the action against Menatep and YUKOS is nothing more than a routine investigation, the choice of the prosecution belie such claims.

Privatizing Russia's Electricity

Tue, 15 Jul 2003 00:00:00 +0100

The process, politics, and importance of Russia's electricity privatization.

Russia, America, Iraq

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 +0100

How U.S.-Russian relations will be affected by the war in Iraq.

Chechnya

Sat, 01 Feb 2003 00:00:00 +0100

A comparative and historical analysis of the crisis in Chechnya.

Making Sense of a Revolution

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 00:00:00 +0100

Russian Outlook's twentieth anniversary issue describes common errors in interpretation and predictionto equip ourselves better for the next five years of the Russian revolution.

A Private Hero for a Privatized Country

Fri, 21 Jun 2002 00:00:00 +0100

The most interesting phenomenon on Russia's literary scene today is the popularity of the Erast Fandorin mysteries by Grigoriy Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, who writes as Boris Akunin.

Russia Reinvents the Rule of Law

Wed, 20 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0100

With the passage of a new Criminal-Procedural Code and related statutory reforms in December 2001, the long trek toward a true Russian Rechtsstaat—a lawful state—has achieved another milestone.

Russia's Choice

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 +0100

The 9/11 crisis has provided a dramatic opportunity for manifestingthe gradual strategic shift in the country's domestic and foreign policy priorities.

An Anchor in the Mud

Mon, 01 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Popular Russian novels as symbols of liberty and freedom.

Land Privatization

Fri, 01 Jun 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Privatization of Russian urban and agricultural landoccurred within a bare-bones and flawed democracy, often against well-organized popular opposition.

The Battle Over the Debt

Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:00:00 +0100

In 2001, Russia’s foreign debt suddenly became the focus of an intense and acrimonious debate.

Structure and Context in the Study of Post-Soviet Russia

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Neo-Kremlinology has contributed to Russian distortion by reducing the vastness and complexity of interacting causes to plots of palace intrigues and epic plays.

In Search of a Russian Middle Class

Sun, 01 Oct 2000 00:00:00 +0100

In the past nine years the Russian middle class has done well, but a great deal could be done to further facilitate this success.

A Second Go at a "Second Economic Revolution"?

Sat, 01 Jul 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Should he fail to seize the unique chance to reform the socio-economic policies of the Russia, Vladimir Putin might forever be known for what he failed to accomplish.

Vladimir Putin

Mon, 01 May 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Putin has become Russia's chief executive without a well-considered strategic agenda and largely without a detailed policy mandate.

The Russian Election

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

The December 19 Russian parliamentary election has produced a remarkable shift to the Center-Right.

Is Russia Really "Lost"?

Mon, 04 Oct 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Suddenly everyone is asking, Who lost Russia?

From a Truce to Trench Warfare

Tue, 01 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Hopes for a political truce were dashed by the Communist-initiated impeachment drive in the Duma and by Yeltsin’s dismissal of the Primakov cabinet in response to the legislature’s action.

Waiting for December

Thu, 01 Apr 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Russian political landscape is changing almost daily as political actors maneuver in preparation for the parliamentary election and the battle for the presidency six months later.

After the Crash

Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0100

The devaluation of the ruble andthe default on the government’s domestic debt marked the end of Russia’s first post-Communist regime.

Crisis of Confidence

Mon, 01 Jun 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Without the vote of confidence of successful tax collection, Russian capitalism and democracy may be doomed.

Russia's New Foreign Policy

Fri, 01 May 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Never has there been a Russia less imperialist, less militarized, less threatening to its neighbors and the world, and more susceptible to the Western ideals than the Russia we see today.

The Strange Case of Russian Capitalism

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Russian capitalism is real and increasingly robust.

We'll Always Have Putin

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:00:00 +0100

It is likely that Vladimir Putin will find a way to continue to serve as Russian president.

Responding to Terrorism

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Wars have repeatedly had a decisive influence on Russia's political development, and the present global conflict against fundamentalist Islam is no exception.

Poor Democracies

Wed, 01 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Today’s struggling democracies must reconcile the conflicting goals of democracy and capitalism.

Russia Doesn't Need a New Czar

Wed, 21 Jun 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Russian president Vladimir Putin is pressing to reduce the autonomy of regional governments and to concentrate power in Moscow, an effortthatthreatens Russia’s democracy.

Putin's Order of the Day

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 +0100

To bring stability to Russia, President Vladimir Putin can either expand state control over society or grant society partnership with the state.