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Articles by Vladimir Ryzhkov
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why We Should Welcome Russia Rejoining PACE
Losing its place in the Сouncil of Еurope would hurt Russia's civil society and increase the country’s isolation.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Usual Suspects Gobble Up Russia's Budget Pie
Adverse changes on the world scene, the loss of energy markets, the decline in oil prices, Western sanctions, a lack of domestic reforms, capital...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Syrian Adventure Will Cost Russians Dearly
"Has the country run out of poor people?" is a fitting question to today's Russian leaders who, not having ended the geopolitical and military conflict...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Attitude to Stalin Reveals Russia's Considerable Divide
It is ironic that the monument to the victims of Stalin's terror — which the country has been waiting for since the former Soviet dictator died...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Electoral Changes Make Duma Less Legitimate
Electoral law is the most unstable area of Russian legislation.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin Has Russians' Loyalty, But for How Long?
President Vladimir Putin has built up huge reserves of popular support during his 15 years in power.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Direct Elections Won’t Help Russia’s Opposition
One of the few things the mass protests in the winter of 2011-12 achieved was the return of direct elections for State Duma deputies representing...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Gaidar's Departure Is a Sad Sign of the Times
Maria Gaidar's decision to go to Ukraine to serve as vice governor of the Odessa region under former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and to...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Pivot East Won't Solve Russia's Problems (Op-Ed)
Simply moving business to the East or South cannot provide Russia with the modernized financial resources it needs, writes columnist Vladimir Ryzhkov...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Yerevan Shows Fragility of Post-Soviet Regimes
Armenia is Russia's main ally in the Caucasus and, at the same time, one of the poorest countries of the world.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russian Orthodox Church Facing Ukraine Split
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that he considers Russians and Ukrainians "a single people." He justified annexing Crimea and providing...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's Foreign Agents Law Is Recipe for Disaster
The law on international and foreign "undesirable organizations" that the State Duma adopted, President Vladimir Putin signed and that entered into force...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russians Must Ditch Illusions for Bright Future
Analysts traditionally classify authoritarian regimes as either successful or unsuccessful, based on their political stability, rate of economic growth...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russians Must Keep Their Abhorrence of War
During the 70 years since the great victory over Nazi Germany, the interpretation of that event by first Soviet, and later Russian, authorities has...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's New Totalitarianism Depends on Silence
The ability of NGOS and other aspects of civil society to withstand the attacks of the Russian authorities will determine Russia's future, writes...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin Doesn't Have Monopoly on Patriotism
Today, a Russian patriot is anyone who supports the annexation of Crimea and who believes that a "fascist junta" rules in Kiev, that the separatist...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russian Imperialism Will Unleash New Yugoslavia
Russia managed to avoid a Yugoslavia-like conflict with its neighbors in the 1990s, but it looks like Putin is now leading the country in that direction...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Nemtsov's Brutal Murder Benefits the Kremlin
The detestable murder of Boris Nemtsov shocked all of Russia.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Absurd World of Russian Public Opinion
Hurray! We are attacking! Thank God! Many are dead and wounded! Thank God!" Thus exclaimed "good soldier Svejk" from the eponymous immortal novel by Jaroslav...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia Must Forget Yalta and Face Facts in Minsk
Today the whole world will anxiously await news from Minsk, where the "Normandy Four" — Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France — will try to reach...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia Needs Europe for Reform, Modernization
Even as Russian leaders proclaim the impossibility of isolating Russia and their own unwillingness to see it happen, Russia's movement toward self-imposed...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Marking 110 Years Since Russia's Bloody Sunday
Just over 110 years ago, on Jan. 9, 1905, a huge throng of factory workers from all over St. Petersburg converged on the Winter Palace.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's NGOs Are Under Increasing Pressure
On Dec. 9, after long months of inspections and pressure from the authorities, the Justice Ministry included the Moscow School of Civic Education...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin Must Change Direction or Face a Coup
As the Ukrainian crisis intensified in recent months and after Western states imposed sanctions not only on Russia, but even on close associates of President...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kazakhstan Benefits From Russia's Misfortune
On Nov. 11, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev unexpectedly delivered a major speech to his people in which he unveiled a "new economic policy"...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's Repression of Crimean Tatars Repeats U.S.S.R.'s Mistake
The most serious ethno-political conflict in Russia today is not the intense xenophobia found in Moscow, St. Petersburg or even Chechnya, but the rising...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Paranoid Russia Now Sees Enemies Everywhere
When senior Soviet officials wanted to set down the ideological or conceptual framework by which citizens should understand current events, they issued...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin Policies Put Economy Under Pressure
Crimea will contribute about three percentage points to inflation this year.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
United Russia Wins Elections But Not Respect
On Sept. 14, 2014, Russia once again held local and regional elections throughout the country. United Russia won a landslide victory while the other...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Ukrainian Conflict Spells Disaster for Russia
Speaking at the Seliger 2014 National Youth Forum in late August, President Vladimir Putin said that there are people in this country who are working...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
What Putin and Russia Can Learn From China
President Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin in 2012, his new reactionary course, and now the acute crisis concerning Ukraine have finally taken...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's War on NGOs Threatens Russia's Future
The Justice Ministry continues to officially label leading Russian human rights organizations as "foreign agents." According to a law passed in 2012...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia Needs Dissidents Like Novodvorskaya
Valeria Novodvorskaya is dead. Novodvorskaya was not only an opposition politician, human rights activist and Soviet dissident who endured prison and Soviet...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin Can't Afford His Middle Class Base
Russia's middle class is at once the mainstay of society and the greatest threat to the current political regime, writes columnist Vladimir Ryzhkov...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Poroshenko's Peace Plan Is Anything But
Poroshenko's long-awaited plan will likely fail because it ignores Russia's fundamental geopolitical differences with the West, writes columnist Vladimir...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia is Burdened by the Weight of Empire
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is now moving along its own neo-imperial path, and the rapidly mounting burden of that course carries serious...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Controlling Russians Through Travel Bans
Government bans on some types of international travel creates a siege mentality and increases antagonism towards the West, writes columnist Vladimir...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russians Feel That Great Power High – Again
The "nation of consumers" that arose in the boom years of the 2000s has shifted its focus. It is now elated that the country has extended its influence...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's Self-Isolation
Putin has firmly set Russia on the path toward restoring its superpower status based on an anti-Western and nationalist state ideology.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's New Corporatist State
Corporatism, a top-down political model for state control, originated in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It is coming back under Putin.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Federalization Card in Ukraine
Introducing federalization in a highly unstable country that is on the brink of economic collapse could intensify the forces that are already pulling...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The New Putin Doctrine
Under Putin, Russia has become a powerful country once again and now has the right to flaunt its own double standards, just like the U.S.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Kremlin's War Propaganda
In authoritarian countries like Russia, independent information is losing out to mass propaganda, and whole populations have become victims of brainwashing...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Crimean Trap
By invading Crimea and threatening to annex it, Moscow has violated the basic principle of the inviolability of borders. This has both CIS states...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
No Real Elections in Regions
The Kremlin has begun dismantling the modest political reforms that were instituted after the protests of late 2011 and early 2012.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Failing Ukrainian State
The greatest threat to Ukraine is not the protests or Yanukovych. The primary threat is the growing chaos and complete disintegration of society...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Our Own Bin Laden
The Caucasus Emirate wants to establish an Islamic Sharia-based state in the North Caucasus and even beyond, and it has declared jihad against all infidels...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Khodorkovsky's New Fight for Civil Society
As a free man, Khodorkovsky will fight to win the release of political prisoners and try to build a stronger and more responsible civil society...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Expect More Anti-U.S. Venom in the State Media
The journalists Dmitry Kiselyov will cultivate at Rossia Sevodnya will likely copy his venomous anti-U.S., anti-gay and anti-liberal rhetoric.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Civil Society Unites Behind Kudrin
Alexei Kudrin is attempting to expand his image by serving as a leader for those who advocate civil society, including the opposition.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Distorted History
In the new history textbook just released for schoolchildren, Ivan the Terrible is a "reformer," Stalin is a "modernizer," the democratic achievements...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia's March Toward Ruin
Never before have the ruling elite so publicly and openly whipped up anti-migrant and xenophobic sentiments in society as they have over the past...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Kremlin's Pogrom Mentality
Elevating xenophobia and Russian nationalism to the rank of official policy could result in the collapse of Russia, much like what happened to the...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Same Old Kremlin, Same Old Surkov
The decision by President Vladimir Putin to appoint Vladislav Surkov as a presidential aide for social and economic relations with Abkhazia and Ossetia...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin Finally Talks With the Opposition
This year's Valdai conference was unlike any other. Putin went out of his way to give opposition members a chance to ask questions.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Corrupt Clans Lead Siberian Regions to Ruin
I took an active part in the elections held in two beautiful republics of Siberia: Tyva and Khakasia. They offered a clear example of the dysfunctional...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Regional Elites See United Russia's Stock Falling
The regional elections to be held on Sept. 8 prove that the leaden and inert politics that characterized Russia in the 2000s are gone forever and that...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why the Regions Hate Moscow
As regional cities and towns languish in a vicious circle of blight and hopelessness, Russia's wealth and power are concentrated in Moscow.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why the Altai Forest Is Going Bare
Corruption and nepotism are the largest threats to one of the most precious natural resources in the Altai region: its pine forests.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Kremlin Is Split Over Navalny
Navalny was convicted on Nelson Mandela Day. While Mandela gives inspiration to anyone struggling against tyranny, Putin may find his own twisted inspiration...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin Manipulation of Elections Continues
The Kremlin has two tactics to guarantee victory for its preferred candidates: If the pro-Kremlin candidate is popular, the authorities permit as...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Khodorkovsky Will Face a 3rd Trial
The siloviki are afraid that once Khodorkovsky is released from prison, he will try to replace Russia's current regime with a more humane, democratic...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin's New Attack on Human Rights
The night raid on Lev Ponomaryov and his human rights organization has become the latest example of the assault on civil society by Putin's siloviki-driven...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Kremlin's Managed Mayoral Election
The early mayoral election in Moscow has been engineered based on the standard Kremlin model of "managed democracy."
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Guriev Is Latest Victim of Putin's Police State
As in the Soviet era, everything foreign is now suspect. Yet the attack on Guriev shows that Putin's regime is even more repressive than the Soviet...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Operation Total Eradication of NGOs
A huge special operation involving the siloviki is underway to eliminate all independent NGOs.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Bolotnaya One Year On
In a frantic quest to boost his popularity, Putin resorted to exploiting the people's main phobias.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Bolotnoye Show Trial
In the Moscow Trials of 2013, the role of Trotsky was given to Georgian politician Givi Targamadze, while two dozen ordinary Russians have been criminally...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The World's Largest Money Launderer
The risk for wealthy Russians of investing in Russia remains much higher than their risk of having money being discovered in an offshore account...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Putin Will Miss Berezovsky
The Kremlin turned Berezovsky into the devil incarnate, blaming him for some of Russia's worst crimes over the past 20 years.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Vertical Duma
The decision by the three fake "opposition" parties in the Duma to oust Dmitry Gudkov for speaking at a U.S. conference was the latest reminder...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Pekhtin's Mistake Was Investing in Miami
President Putin is not cracking down on corruption; he is warning officials to distance themselves from the U.S.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Anti-Gay Bill Takes Russia Back to Middle Ages
The anti-gay legislation is only a small battle in the larger war against the "creative class," opposition, contemporary artists, atheists and critical...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
United Russia's Phony Liberals
United Russia's "liberal manifesto," written by Putin's loyal apologists for authoritarianism, are making a pathetic attempt to pass themselves off...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russians Dream of Joy and Life Without Putin
The latest in-depth research into modern Russian society was conducted by the Russian Academy of Science's Sociology Institute in cooperation with...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Straw to Break Putin's Back
The adoption ban may be the straw that breaks the Kremlin's back and raises the question of whether Putin's regime has a moral right to rule the country...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Going From Georgian Wine to U.S. Adoptions
Like the no-holds-barred anti-Georgia campaign in 2006, which banned Georgian food and wine imports and halted mail and money transfers between Russia...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Gazprom Is an Environmental Hazard
While Gazprom tries to position itself in Europe as an environmentally responsible company, it is one of the largest threats to Russia's environment...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Do-Nothing Speech
Putin does not have a unified economic strategy. Even the measures he announced to combat corruption were superficial.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Russia's Golden Bridges Collapse
After 13 years of tolerating corruption as a necessary evil, it seems that the Kremlin has finally decided to initiate a tough anti-corruption campaign...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Altai Has Become a Ghost Town
VIP poaching in the Altai republic goes largely unpunished. On a recent visit, there were no animals to see.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
New Strategy for Opposition
When the authorities allowed new political parties to be registered this year — including the Republican Party-Party of People's Freedom in August —...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
United Russia's Dirty Election Tricks in Barnaul
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who doubles as leader of United Russia, was so happy with his party's win in the regional and local elections held in mid-October...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Saratov's Horrible Roads Put Putin on Notice
Moscow is not Russia" is a phrase every Russian and Russia-watcher has heard. A simple trip 100 kilometers outside the Garden Ring is enough to convince...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Anatomy of Putin's Battle Against the Opposition
The key to Putin's black PR campaign is to portray the opposition as radicals, anarchists or ultranationalists who lack both a cogent political program...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Obama Caves In to Kremlin Repression
The Obama administration continues its cowardly retreat from its democratic principles. It did not make a single attempt to preserve Radio Liberty...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Church Has Replaced the Communist Party
The same people who once bowed before portraits of Vladimir Lenin and Communist leaders now pay homage to the Russian Orthodox Church and its icons.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Gudkov's Ouster Would Set a Precedent
Within days, maverick State Duma Deputy Gennady Gudkov is likely to be forced out of the parliament, setting a precedent that would mean any opposition-minded...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin Takes a Lesson From Lukashenko
The case of the now-famous punk group has conclusively proven to the world that Russia is an authoritarian country led by President-cum-dictator Vladimir...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
This Is a Terrible Time to Be a Dictator, Mr. Putin
The Kremlin and the people are headed toward a new round of conflict starting in September.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin's Pocket Duma and Courts
When United Russia needs a two-thirds majority to change the Constitution, the opposition parties in the Duma are always willing to lend their support...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
United Russia Gets a Little Help From Its Friends
According to leaked documents published by Novaya Gazeta, there is a secret Kremlin campaign to boost United Russia's results in the October regional elections...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Expect a Showdown With the Kremlin in the Fall
Since his inauguration on May 7, President Vladimir Putin has led an unprecedented campaign of tightening the screws on the opposition and nongovernmental...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Criminalizing the Right to Assembly
It is clear that Putin is moving toward a harsher form of authoritarianism, as evidenced by the reclassification of petty, administrative violations into...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
How the Protest Law Violates European Norms
The new law regulating protest rallies was rushed through the State Duma last week and signed by President Vladimir Putin on Friday just before Tuesday's...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Putin Is Afraid of the People
After Moscow's large protests on May 6 and the following days, we can easily dispel two widely held opinions — that the protest movement had fizzled...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Putin's Days Are Numbered
On Monday, Vladimir Putin will take the presidential oath of office for the third time. After 12 years in power, Putin has increased his control over...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Latest Mockery
President-elect Vladimir Putin's speech before the State Duma last week was his first major public address after being elected in March. He used the occasion...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Kremlin Sees Obama as Weak
U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul has encountered a much chillier reception than he apparently anticipated when he agreed to come to Moscow.
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Replace Jackson-Vanik With the Magnitsky Act
A number of opposition leaders — including myself, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny and others — recently made an appeal to the U.S. Congress. We...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Medvedev's Swan Song
A week ago, I took part in an unprecedented meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev at his residence at Gorki. This was the first time that he met...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
We Want Reforms, Not Revolution
The main lesson from the rival anti-Putin and pro-Putin demonstrations held on Feb. 4 is that both civil society and the authorities are walking down...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Justice Ministry Is Worst Enemy of Pluralism
I was inundated with congratulations from friends, colleagues and journalists following the Supreme Court ruling a week ago in favor of the Republican...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Decembrists' Manifesto
One of the most common criticisms of the "Decembrists 2.0" protest movement is that it has no program, strategy or vision. But the opposite is true...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
A Crisis of Confidence
It is already clear that Russia will experience a systemic political crisis in 2012. The country's leaders and institutions will completely lose the people's...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
'Opposition' Parties Should Boycott Duma
As it is clear to almost everyone, the State Duma elections results were fabricated. The question now is: Will the Kremlin-approved “opposition” parties...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Dirtiest Elections in Post-Soviet History
A distinguishing feature of the State Duma election campaign is that it was held against a backdrop of voters' plummeting confidence in the party...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
EU Should Not Legitimize Crooks and Thieves
On Dec. 4, Russia will hold the dirtiest, most fraudulent and dishonest "elections" of its entire post-Soviet history. For the first time in the...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Gazprom Over Nature
Russia's first chief of the secret police, Alexander Benkendorf, served two centuries ago under Tsar Nicholas I, and it is his portrait that should be...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
From Liberal to Lackey
When President Dmitry Medvedev assumed office four years ago, it didn't take long for a deep split between Russia's main liberals to develop. As a result...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Kremlin's Political Cartel
Millions of Russians are again faced with a difficult decision — should they participate in or boycott the Dec. 4 State Duma elections?
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Russia for All of Its Citizens
Despite President Dmitry Medvedev's appeal to political parties to avoid whipping up dangerous nationalistic and xenophobic sentiments in their campaign...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
If You Can't Beat Other Parties, Absorb Them
The scandal about how Mikhail Prokhorov was first recruited and then cast out of the Right Cause party calls into question whether there is a place...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
'Useful Idiots' Back Medvedev's Re-Election
It was really pointless for observers to have spent the last three years asking the question: "Who is better, Medvedev or Putin?" and to have worked themselves...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why the 2000s Were Better Than the 1990s
Most Russians still have negative feelings about the liberal reforms of the 1990s and are more positively disposed toward the 2000s. But at the same...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Liberal Is Such a Bad Word
The liberal opposition is often called upon to repent for the "sins" of the 1990s, a period strongly associated in the public mind with liberal reforms...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
All in the Family
Any discussion of who controls Russia typically focuses on the ruling tandem and the differences between the two leaders' public statements and political...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Konovalov's Ministry of Manipulation
On Friday, the Party of People's Freedom, or Parnas, filed a lawsuit in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court challenging the Justice Ministry decision...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Europe's No. 1 Violator of Human Rights
Russian authorities have declared a short summer time-out in their conflict with the Council of Europe and its European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why My Party Wasn't Registered
The Justice Ministry on Wednesday refused to register the opposition Party of People's Freedom, thus denying my party its constitutional right to participate...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Voting With Your Feet Again
In a recent report for the Center for Strategic Studies, economists Mikhail Dmitriyev and Sergei Belanovsky concluded that "serious political changes...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Donating Blood to Help United Russia Stay Alive
There is something sinister in the way ballot boxes were purportedly stuffed during the March 13 Tambov regional elections to boost United Russia's...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Swapping Jackson-Vanik for Magnitsky
Relations between Cold War-era foes Moscow and Washington have long been distrustful, hypocritical, peppered with mutual insinuations and patched together...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why Putin Created All-Russia People's Front
At the latest United Russia conference, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin formally launched his party's State Duma election campaign and, to a large degree...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Leonid Ilyich Putin
At the beginning of the second decade in control of the country, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is becoming more and more like former Soviet leaders...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Soviet Tyranny Was a Crime Against Humanity
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin paid his respects last year to the victims of the Soviet massacre of Poles at Katyn, but the Russian state is in no...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Travesty in Tambov
The results of the recent March 13 elections demonstrate that the Tambov region has not lost its touch in "organizing" elections, with United Russia...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
United Russia in Trouble
While President Dmitry Medvedev drivels on about "freedom being better than no freedom" and the world tries to understand why long-standing Arab dictatorships...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Kangaroo Courts
Russia's greatest curse is not its natural resources, as many believe, but its weak and ineffective institutions. According to the 2010-11 Global Competitiveness...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Force-Feeding Political Indoctrination
The Education and Science Ministry headed by Andrei Fursenko has a good shot at winning the dubious title of Least-Loved Federal Agency, an honor...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Arab World's Riled Youth vs. Russia's Dying Star
The Kremlin continues to be panic-stricken over the prospect of a Russian “Orange” or “Brown” revolution, failing to see that the real threat facing...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
All Power to Shmakov
As with many things in Russia, trade union activity is highly monopolized, with 95 percent of all Russian union members belonging to the Federation of...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Putin's Feeding Trough
The final days of 2010 and the first days of 2011 were filled with unusually turbulent political events for Russia. According to Russian folklore, how...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The World's Largest Dying Power
As 2010 and the first decade of the 21st century wind to a close, the dominant social, political and economic trends of the year raise serious doubts about...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Silencing the Whistleblower
The gap between Russia’s authorities and citizens has become larger than ever. The country’s kleptocracy has degraded to such a level that criminal...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Medvedev's Address Must Break From the Past
President Dmitry Medvedev will give his third annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly on Tuesday. And yet it is difficult to recall...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
2 Bloody Weeks of Beatings, Killings and Raids
During the past two weeks, Russia was shaken by a whole string of horrible events that has once again clearly shown the extent to which the Russian state...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Chernomyrdin Embodies a Better, Freer Era
The national farewell to former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin might lead to consequences unforeseen by the authorities — a re-examination of one...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
China, Russia Will Be Forced to Democratize
Over the next five to 10 years, as millions of Russians and Chinese come to realize that they are full-fledged citizens of their countries with basic constitutional...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Luzhkov’s Worm
The ouster of Mayor Yury Luzhkov is just the latest confirmation of the axiom about autocrats: They are driven by one main principle — to preserve and...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Historically Determined to Be an Autocrat
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov and their ideological supporters don’t believe Russians can be trusted...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
How I Plan to Bust Putin’s Monopoly on Power
Russia’s opposition democratic movements have been debating what role they can and should play in the State Duma and presidential elections in 2011 and...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Modernizing Russia’s Tragic History
In a village in the Leningrad region, there is a large bronze statue of a strong, stocky man in a long coat and cap on a high red granite pedestal. An...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Altai’s Strawberry Fields Forever
After this summer’s natural disasters, when the residents of Russia’s cities suffered from intense heat and thick smog, it is worth recalling that...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Killing Endangered Species and Democracy
Altai Governor Alexander Berdnikov's campaign against Sergei Mikhailov, editor-in-chief of the local Listok newspaper, for its critical articles against...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
Why the Kremlin Is Furious With Lukashenko
“Brotherly relations” between Russia and Belarus have shifted to disputes over gas, oil, transportation and more. We can expect an escalation in tension...
opinion
Vladimir Ryzhkov
The Wrong Kind of Monument
Overcoming the diverse legacy of dictatorship requires the state and society to make long-term and whole-hearted efforts toward the understanding and acceptance...