As a bill extending Russia’s presidency from four to six years barreled through the Russian legislature on Friday, it fell to the old-timers from the Communist Party to put up a fight. “Why do we have to do this today?” said Viktor I. Ilyukhin, a Communist legislator, during discussions today in the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament. “Why are we in such a hurry? A strict authoritarian regime has already been established in this country. There is already an unprecedented concentration of power in one person’s hands.”

S.BUNTMAN: Well, it’s just today that it’s called that. Adam Michnik has come to our town [gorod – the name of the show]. Hello, Adam, good day. A.MICHNIK: Hello, good day. S.BUNTMAN: I invite all listeners to ask Adam Michnik questions about everything – about Russia, about Poland, about Georgia, by the way, about democracy. In general, everything, as Blok wrote about love in poetry for the civil service. Questions that interest you, that you love very much to ask of moderators about how, what, how we can figure history out, do we need democracy? Come on. You’ve got an extraordinarily interesting interlocutor as a guest. You came here for the Khodorkovsky readings, in part, yes? A.MICHNIK: Yes, I’m in Moscow for the first time over the last 3.5 years.

In addition to the characteristics of classic authoritarianism, Putinism has a number of other distinct features that bear a remarkable similarity to common components of fascism. Under Putin, the government became one of personal power, popularity, and legitimacy. Renewed senses of nationalism and nostalgia have also sprung up under Putinism: the Soviet Union is constantly glorified, external (Western) enemies lurk everywhere, and reclaiming the assets lost with the fall of the Soviet Union, such as Georgia and Ukraine, is a priority. Medvedev has closely followed the line of Putinism and seems to see the same enemies around every corner as Putin.

As the European Union prepares to restart talks on cooperation with Russia, the United States is warning that the move could undermine Western attempts to rein in the Kremlin's aggressive foreign policy. (...) "We cautioned the EU and its member states about starting the partnership and cooperation negotiations in light of Russia not fulfilling the cease-fire agreement," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Merkel said in a statement to The Associated Press. Beginning the negotiations "before these commitments have been met could be misunderstood by Moscow, leaving it with the impression that the EU values its relationship with Russia far more that Moscow does with the EU."

1. Don't treat the Russian leader as a "friend." U.S. policy toward Russia must be based on principles, not personalities. It is not possible to "charm" Russian leaders into ignoring what they regard as Russia's national interest, and the attempt to do so at the expense of our principles will destroy our moral capital with the Russian people.

Q. What is your advice for the next president of the United States? A. After Iraq, it is clear that American military might is no longer a sufficient gateway to power. America has to work with its allies. That is one of the great lessons of a post-neocon world. A few years ago, Condoleezza Rice said that in the Middle East, the Americans will do the cooking and the Europeans can do the dishes. Can you imagine the national shame for the French, who are so keen on gastronomy, to have America — the nation of McDonald's — insist that they will do the cooking? That was hard to swallow. But in all seriousness, Europe needs to get back in the kitchen. America can't do it alone anymore.

Blaming the turmoil, Standard and Poor's took the unprecedented step Thursday of disclosing only the top 10 names on its annual transparency and disclosure list of Russia's 90 largest publicly traded companies. Investors and company representatives waiting for the information at a news conference called by the international ratings agency were stunned by the decision. "It is complete absurdity that transparency ratings are being kept secret. What are transparency ratings when they aren't transparent?" said Alexei Navalny, an individual Russian stockholder currently involved in several transparency-related lawsuits against Rosneft, which was ranked as the second most transparent company on the list after CTC Media.

DETAINING the next president of the United States for three hours in what an eyewitness called a “malodorous” small room at an airport in the provincial Russian city of Perm looks, in retrospect, to have been a pretty bad idea. No matter that the Kremlin muttered an apology for delaying Barack Obama, along with his mentor on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, in August 2005. The hold-up was blamed on a muddle over paperwork—although some Russia-watchers suspected it was a calculated Kremlin snub to the Republican Mr Lugar. Mr Obama now plays down the episode, but his first-hand experience of the Russian bureaucracy’s capacity for at best capricious incompetence and at worst vindictiveness could yet prove telling.