Month: March 2010

March 31, 2010

Grigory Pasko: Russia’s Bad Cops

From 1 July of the year 2010 subdivisions of moral-psychological provision will begin to work in the system of the MVD to foster patriotism and intolerance towards corruption in policemen, to form in the guardians of order a complex of civic, mora...
March 31, 2010

Hearts and Minds in Chechnya

There is a very interesting op/ed by three academics in the New York Times, which takes a look at the nature of Chechnya’s black widows, and seeks to explain the three-year pause in attacks between 2004 and 2007. The trajectory of Chechnya&#...
March 31, 2010

Medvedev’s Opportunity

I agree with Ryzhkov’s comment that now would be a great time for Medvedev to show some control over the FSB, and take advantage of the opportunity presented by these terrible attacks to do something meaningful and unexpected.  From the...
March 31, 2010

“Blinded by Rage”

I don’t usually re-blog comments, but quite a remarkable one was left by user “Jack Johnson”, who I hope is different from the surfer-singer-songwriter (that would make me sad). You have become so blinded by your rage against Put...
March 31, 2010

Energy Blast – March 31, 2010

Currently, only Rosneft and Gazprom have permission to explore and develop oil and gas resources off the coast of Russia, and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry are now proposing to change the rules to allow access for non-state-run Ru...
March 31, 2010

Today in Russian Business – March 31, 2010

Watch a video of Hermitage Capital chief executive William Browder discussing investment conditions in Russia. Evraz Group reported a net loss of $1.26 billion last year on the back of falling steel output prices.  Perhaps the news that globa...
March 31, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 31, 2010

TODAY: Second bomb attack in Dagestan kills 12 more, public debate turns to anger; Kyiv to install surveillance cameras; state TV defends poor coverage of bombings; Luzhkov praises Muscovites whilst Putin makes sewer references; FSB concerned abou...
March 30, 2010

A Finger on the Pulse

I agree with Blake Hounshell’s point here on Foreign Policy Passport … though it does make me worry about giving the people what they want.  As though we needed more proof that the U.S. and Russia are so much alike. Putin said he&...
March 30, 2010

Mourning Governance

On Tuesday, Russians observed a day of mourning for the 39 dead and more than 70 wounded Muscovites following the suicide bombing of Metro stations Lubyanka and Park Kultury.  The fact that the unsolved war in the North Caucasus has come back...