Category Archives: Russia

Pussy Riot: Russia’s Plastic People?

Posted on 12 August 2012 by

The widely criticised detention and trial of the three members of the Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, now awaiting verdicts in Moscow on charges of ‘hooliganism’ for an anti-Putin protest happening at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour has … Continue reading →

Posted in communism and post-communism, Czech politics, Russia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

>United Russia repesentative fails to impress EU far right

Posted on 9 February 2009 by

> Anyone who thinks Russia is on course for a new form of fascism will draw comfort from a EUobserver report about a meeting of EU far-right parties to co-ordinate their strategy against the Lisbon Treaty – it’s a very … Continue reading →

Posted in CEE far-right, EU politics, Russia | Leave a comment

>Czech public blame Russians and Georgians alike

Posted on 31 October 2008 by

> Opinion polling reveals the Czech public holds a characteristically divided / balanced set of views the Russo-Georgian war: majorities disapprove of both Georgian intervention in South Ossetia and Russia’s response, with predictable splits on left/right lines and the usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic, Georgia, public opinion, Russia | Leave a comment

>Czech Republic: Georgia on their minds

Posted on 23 August 2008 by

> Czech newspapers were pretty quick in getting correspondents onto the ground in Georgia and there was some pretty vivid eyewitness reporting in the Czech press from the war zone. Czech politicians, by contrast, most of seem to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Georgia, Russia | Leave a comment

>Solzhenitsyn’s funeral: how Russia has changed

Posted on 6 August 2008 by

> I wander down to the living room for a coffee break and switch on BBC News 24. The funeral of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. President Medvedev is among the mourners. Ex-President Putin pays tribute. “It shows how much Russia has changed … Continue reading →

Posted in communism and post-communism, Russia | Leave a comment

>Startling admissions: Grassroots opposition to Putin (and Medvedev)?

Posted on 28 February 2008 by

> UCAS admissions interviews of prospective students applying to student SSEES are a hit and miss affair for the interviewer. Apart from the small matter of whether we should admit applicant (usually I recommend we do) they sometimes they genuinely … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, politics of old age, Russia | Leave a comment

>The missing middle

Posted on 17 December 2007 by

> A SSEES graduate emails me to ask if I know of any useful readings about the development of the Russian middle class. I don’t really. Russia not my main area of expertise, but it’s an interesting question. Middle classes … Continue reading →

Posted in CEE centre-right, middle classes, Russia | Leave a comment

>A liberal helping of democracy? Perry Anderson on Putin’s Russia

Posted on 21 January 2007 by

>A Petya Federov, seemingly a Russian based in London, has thoughtfully posted an article (part 1 and part 2) on his blog about Putin’s Russia from the London Review of Books by veteran New Left intellectual Perry Anderson . Slightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, liberalism, Russia | Leave a comment

>Putin on some Christmas cheer….

Posted on 19 December 2006 by

>As I suspected, the assassination of Aleksandr Livitnenko has somewhat damaged the Russian President’s public image, satirized on the latest cover of Private Eye ….

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>Putin’s Russia: Informal enquiries

Posted on 12 December 2006 by

> Last Monday I attended the roundtable launch of the much awaited new book my SSEES colleague Alena Ledenev: How Russia Really Works (Cornell University Press, 2006). Alongside the author, the two roundtable participants were Sir Roderick Braithwaite, former British … Continue reading →

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