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Articles by Leonid Bershidsky

opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Puts Russia Inc. Under New Management

The appointment of a new government doesn't necessarily signal growth.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin's Biggest Surprise: Seeking a Strong Successor

The amendments don’t say who will head up the State Council, but they do make it clear it is to be formed by the president.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia’s New Prime Minister Is a Bureaucratic Superman

Mishustin is a new kind of Russian prime minister suited to Putin’s evolving political goals.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin's New Plan to Hold Power Forever

Russia’s real constitution is in Putin’s head. That’s where the missing details will come from, too.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Latest Obsession: A New World War II Narrative

Russia’s global power is still based on some important spoils of World War II. 
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Now Needs a Plan B on Iran

Qassem Soleimani’s death may force a change in the Russian calculus involving Syria, Iran and Turkey.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Grand Gas Project Makes Sense Now

But not exactly in the way the Kremlin wanted.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Showed He’s the Anti-Putin in 2019

He’s the only kind of threat Russian President Vladimir Putin has any reason to fear.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

In 2019, Putin Couldn’t Win Back Russia’s Love

It was a year in which the Russian leader increased his influence abroad while losing it at home.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russian Artist Puts $150,000 Banana to Shame

This plaque from a bench in New York City's Central Park is art as political protest, tabloid journalism and charity all rolled into one.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

4-Year Doping Ban on Athletes Should Scare All Russians

Russia may lose three world championships it’s set to host — volleyball in 2022, ice hockey in 2023 and water sports in 2025.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Facebook Just Can’t Seem to Beat the Russians

Social media companies' defenses are routinely bypassed by an entire manipulation industry, largely based in Russia.
3 Min read
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Is Seeing ‘Foreign Agents’ Everywhere

I'm only one step from becoming a Russian "foreign agent."
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

I Just Translated ‘1984’ Into Russian. I’m Gasping for Air

Reading “1984” closely is both sickening and cathartic because so much is instantly recognizable.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The West Needs to Measure Russian Election Meddling. Here’s How

Techniques that once quantified the impact of political advertising don’t work for internet propaganda.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Russia Is Struggling to Build Putin’s Grand Dream

It has the money, but bureaucrats are too scared to spend it on the 12 “national projects.”
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Bolivian Politics Suddenly Matters to Putin

An authoritarian leader’s rule ended when citizens tired of him and the military refused to intervene. Could the same thing happen in Moscow?
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Macron’s Vision of Russia's Future Is Half-Baked

Macron thinks Russia has no choice but integration with Europe. Putin has other ideas.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

For Russia, Even the Language Can Be a Weapon

Putin says there’s a war against the mother tongue in the Russian-speaking world outside the federation’s borders.

Where Russia’s Foreign Investment Really Comes From

No, it's not from Cyprus.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Grumpy Eastern Europeans Aren’t as Gloomy as They Seem

A survey by George Soros’s charity found a lot of disenchantment about life after Communism. Here’s the good news.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The U.S. Dithered Too Long on Russia's Nord Stream 2 Project

Denmark has lifted its block on the Russian pipeline, and now it’s too late for sanctions to work.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

‘BRICS’ Is About Geopolitics, Not Economics

BRICS no longer makes much financial sense. But the idea is more politically relevant than ever.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The Putin-Erdogan Deal Poses a Challenge to the West

The Kremlin offers authoritarians a brokerage service based on cynical principles of mutual gain rather than values and allegiances.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Ukraine Peace Talks Get Some Help From Putin

Russia is letting Zelenskiy lay out “red lines” to convince voters he can compromise without capitulating.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Turkey and Russia Show That Land Grabs Can Pay Off

Erdogan and Putin are shredding the myth that countries no longer tear other countries apart.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Russia Is a Middle Eastern Country

After centuries as the dividing line between Europe and Asia, Russia has found its natural place among the oil dictatorships.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Want to Insult Putin? It Will Cost You $462

Russia’s new lèse majesté law helps turn the president into a laughingstock.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Even Putin Is Now Worried About Climate Change

Russia has dropped its doubts about joining the Paris accords.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Plays a Cruel Game of Catch-and-Release

A journalist and an actor are arrested then released under similar, mysterious circumstances.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Wants to Be the Middle East's Go-To Problem Solver

Putin’s trolling of Trump isn’t just about missiles.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Was This Man the Prized U.S. Asset in the Kremlin?

If a midlevel Kremlin official was indeed the agent the U.S. pulled from Russia in 2017, he couldn’t have known much about covert election interference...
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The Kremlin Won — and Proved It Can’t Win Fair

In local elections, frustrated Muscovites voted for Communists and oddballs to keep out pro-Putin candidate.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Germany Is Ignoring Its Own Russian Spy Scandal

The murder of a Chechen rebel in Berlin looks like a Russian operation, but the Merkel government is not making a public fuss about that.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

A Prisoner Swap With Russia Tests Ukraine’s President

Whether Zelenskiy decides to give up a key MH17 witness will shed light on his policy toward eastern Ukraine.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Eastern Ukraine Isn’t Really That Separatist

The way to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine is to arrange a credible people’s vote in the Donbass.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Plays a Game of Nuclear Strip Poker

This is a game Russia also played after annexing Crimea: First, flat denials, then hints, then a straight admission.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Needs to Bury This Relic of Stalin

Russia can't let go of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, 80 years after it was signed. Until it does, eastern European leaders are right to be nervous.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Democrats Should Care More About Russia

Not Russiagate, but the real foreign policy issues.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Stop Comparing the Moscow and Paris Protests

The fundamental difference between them stems from the state of the basic freedoms in France and Russia.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Has Failed Another Nuclear Test

A nuclear-powered missile’s explosion is less important than the government’s failure to tell the whole truth about it.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia’s Burning! Climate Change Is to Blame

Summer wildfires are nothing new in Siberia, but bigger environmental changes are afoot.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power

In Kyrgyzstan, an ex-president is fighting off special forces trying to arrest him. In Ukraine, the former leader is a figure in 11 criminal cases.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Ukrainian Villain Is Now Cracking Heads in Moscow

A police commander whose savagery helped spur the 2013 Ukraine revolution is now practicing his art in central Moscow.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Can’t Afford to Speed Up Russia’s Economy

The Russian president would rather sit on his hands than risk disturbing the fragile political balance that ensures his power.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russiagate Is Deader Than Ever

A judge has ruled it was actually fine to publish material stolen by the Russian intelligence — even if the Trump campaign had done it.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Here’s Why Russia Won’t Make an Honest Chernobyl Movie

New research shows a 2017 radiation cloud resulted from a mysterious accident in the Urals.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Reminds Russians He Can Do Suppression

A record crackdown on protests in Moscow is a warning to voters tempted to protest their increasingly hopeless situation.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Gets Stronger When Creators Censor Themselves

Western writers and filmmakers shouldn’t censor themselves to reach Russian audiences.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

In Ukraine’s Election, Zelenskiy Looks Like a Winner Again

Ukraine's parliamentary election results give Zelenskiy a shot at near-dictatorial powers. What he will do with them is up for debate.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Populist Voters Don’t Mind Putin’s Help

Matteo Salvini and other populist leaders are learning that Russian “interference” may not be a vote-killer.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Putin Sounds Alt-Right Though He Really Isn’t

In a world Putin believes to be fractured and adrift, he is looking for transactional relationships with people who hold similar views.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Big Bet on Gold Is Paying Off

Russia has been the biggest sovereign gold bug for years. Now others are following in its footsteps.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Domestic Comeback Isn’t Working

Putin made a valiant attempt to show he cares, but he ultimately failed.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Playing Dumb: The Kremlin's Denials on the Downing of MH17

The first charges in the case of the jetliner shot down over Ukraine highlight the vast body of evidence against Russia.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Are Putin and Xi Going Soft on Protest?

The Russian and Chinese regimes are doing something new: Not escalating in the face of protest.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Moldova Is the One Thing Russia and the West Agree On

Europe has its own Venezuela now: Its poorest or second poorest nation, depending on how you count, has two governments.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia's Power Grid Is an Easy Target for U.S. Hacking

The real message U.S. officials are sending to Moscow is that Russia can be attacked without White House authorization.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

A Framed Reporter Suddenly Matters to Putin

Ivan Golunov is an unlikely central figure for such a potentially momentous story.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

What Russia After Vladimir Putin Might Look Like

The country's future might not be so dull as its present, according to the Free Russia Foundation.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Should Have Made HBO's ‘Chernobyl’

Creating a compelling drama about the nuclear disaster would be one way for post-Soviet nations to show they’ve learned its lessons.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin’s Arctic Plans Are a Climate Change Bet

Russia has launched its third new nuclear icebreaker as part of a massive effort to control shipping routes before the ice melts.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Modern Russia Is Putin Deciding a Park Use Dispute

A protest against building an Orthodox church in the Russian hinterland reveals a lot about the country’s power structure.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Trump and Putin Have Nothing to Discuss

Mueller wasn’t the main problem between Trump and Putin.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia’s Plane-Making Ambition Exceeds Its Competence

The Sukhoi Superjet that crashed on Sunday was an assertion of post-Soviet industrial might. It ended up exposing Putin-era weakness instead.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Belarus Seizes a Chance to Hit Russia Where It Hurts

Lukashenko is happy to play hardball over contaminated oil in an important pipeline to Europe.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Thanks, Putin, But Ukrainians Won’t Want Russian Passports

A provocative citizenship offer from the Kremlin challenges Ukraine’s new president to work on making all citizens feel welcome.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

How Zelenskiy Beat Ukraine's Establishment

His presidency could be a wasted chance — or it could finally free up the creative energy Ukraine needs for a leap forward.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

In Libya, One of Putin’s Many Bets Is in Play

The Kremlin doesn’t have the luxury of choosing allies: It has to go with adventurers and risk-takers.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

A Comedian as President? Time to Be Serious

Zelenskiy is emerging as the winner of Ukraine's election.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The U.S. Needs a Post-Mueller Reality Check

Certain political agendas want to see Russia as a mighty adversary.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

R.I.P. Russiagate. Here's What We Learned

It’s important now to be clear-eyed, no matter if you bought the conspiracy theory or not.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Kazakh Autocrat Shows Putin How to Keep Power

Both Russia and Kazakhstan have been run by the same leader, continuously “re-elected.”
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The U.S. College Admissions Scandal Is So Post-Soviet

Academic corruption is typical for Post-Soviet countries because of the power of informal networks.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Trump Is Winning, Putin's Losing in Global Arms Sales

Russia's arms sales are on the decline, a sign that Vladimir Putin’s geopolitical bets aren’t turning into long-term influence.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Turns Swathes of Russia Into Flyover Country

A major part of the country will be treated as a social and economic liability.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The Troika Laundromat Shows How Not to Combat Money Laundering

Focus on shady transactions, not the banks themselves.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russian Generals’ Biggest Fear? Ordinary Russians

What General Gerasimov and the Kremlin are really scared of is their own people.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

New Russian Emigres Aren’t All Dissidents

The bulk of Russians moving to the West aren’t anti-Putin exiles.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

U.S. Cyberattacks May Be Doing Putin a Favor

If America is changing its tactics by going on the cyber offensive, Russia can be expected to take countermeasures that would hurt its own citizens.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Can't Get Europe's Nationalists to Bite

Russian money is too toxic even for Europe's far right.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Is Finally Ready to Look Homeward

The social program looks like the most ambitious one Putin has ever outlined.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Why Russia Can Afford to Jail U.S. Investors

Michael Calvey had become a legend in the Russian market, in part because of his reputed aversion to any kind of foul play.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Trump Can’t Drive Europe Into Russia's Arms

Despite cracks in Europe-U.S. relations, Russia remains too untrustworthy a partner.

Russia’s Economic Growth Seems Too Good to Be True

Rosstat has a clear incentive to massage numbers. Putin’s approval is down, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s numbers are suffering even more.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Maduro’s Collapse Would Be a Defeat for Putin Too

If Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime falls, Vladimir Putin will have to write off yet another costly geopolitical bet.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Can’t Decide If It’s Rich or Poor

Is Russia a poor country or a rich one? Members of the elite are arguing about it, and the answer is important for the country’s direction after the...
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Doesn’t Have Clout to Get Deal With Abe

Putin’s fading domestic political magic makes it doubtful that he can create it in time for Abe to claim the win he craves.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Sanctions Must Be Removable to Be Effective

Arguments, which portray the Deripaska deal as a meaningful achievement by U.S. sanctions technocrats, apparently have fallen on deaf ears.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin's Retirement Plan Depends on Belarus

To retain power, he is positioning himself as the leader of a closer union between Russia and its dependent neighbor.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Europe Should Woo Russia When Putin's Gone

Whenever and however Putin may leave, any successor will need to revise Russia’s geopolitical choice.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin Had a Bad 2018; Next Year Will Be Worse

Without the emotional highs of re-election and a major sporting event, Putin will face a hard struggle against a completely alienated West next year.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Yes, Russia Abused Facebook, But Did It Work?

It’s still unclear whether the Russian influence campaign worked as intended.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russian Rappers Are Giving Up on Putin

Putin never thought he’d have a problem with Russia’s youth culture.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

The Yellow Vests Aren’t Imported from Russia

Faced with a version of the Yellow Vests, any nation’s elite must look inward.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

INF Is Just Another Unenforceable Treaty (Op-ed)

The question is what kind of threat could bring the leaders of this fractured world to start making binding deals again.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Who Are Russia’s Heroes? It May Surprise You (Op-ed)

Russians prefer local heroes, people of courage and larger-than-life figures – like Pushkin or Peter the Great – who have transcended the changes in...
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia Needs a Better Post-Putin Vision (Op-ed)

When I think about Russia after Putin, I’m looking for a credible vision that doesn’t replicate Putin’s great-power ambitions.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Putin and Poroshenko Don't Want All-Out War (Op-ed)

Russia has been quick to point out that the escalation benefits Poroshenko domestically.
opinion Leonid Bershidsky

Russia and Japan Could Finally End WWII (Op-ed)

Putin’s interests are economic and geopolitical, while Abe needs a win to ensure his place in history.