Putin's Besieged Fortress
16 February 2012
By Nikolai Zlobin
The campaign rhetoric in Russia's presidential election has grown increasingly harsh. This happens in many countries, but the difference with Russia is that "external factors" play a disproportionately greater role in the political process.

Taxing the Robber Barons of the '90s
16 February 2012
By Konstantin Sonin
The situation in Russia has changed so much in recent weeks that the presidential election campaign has almost begun to resemble a real political contest.

Putin Chasing Imaginary American Ghosts
10 February 2012
By Michael Bohm
Here we go again — another round of anti-Americanism from the Kremlin and state-controlled media. We have heard claims that the United States is trying to orchestrate an Orange Revolution in Russia many times before, but it was never this intense.

Violent Reaction to Protests Could Bury Putin
09 February 2012
By Mischa Gabowitsch
Nonviolent revolutions do not always remain nonviolent, as the examples of uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria in the Arab Spring have shown. But peaceful movements for regime change often do succeed.

Alpha Dog Can't Save Russia
08 February 2012
By Yuliya Latynina
Every failed revolution is followed by a serious repercussion. Considering that the current "White Revolution" is bound to fail, turmoil awaits this country after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president in May.

Putin's Empty Promise of Honest Elections
07 February 2012
Vedomosti
Are fair and honest elections even possible in the current political system?

Why Electoral Fraud Is the Better of 2 Evils
07 February 2012
By Nikolai Petrov
Putin can't afford a second round. He needs to demonstrate to the political elite and the people that he is still the uncontested national leader and can win in the first round. Faced with the choice of having to falsify a certain percentage of the vote to win in the first round or face a second round, Putin would probably pick falsification as the "lesser of two evils."

News Analysis: Expectations Have Changed, but Has Putin?
06 February 2012
By Nikolaus von Twickel
One day after the third massive anti-government protest, expectations differed widely over if and how they may affect the country's future.

Putin's Shareholder Revolt
06 February 2012
By Tom Thomson
Like dissatisfied shareholders in a publicly held company, the affluent middle class demands better governance, honesty and competent leadership. Now is the time for Putin to demonstrate a CEO's analytical skills to identify problems and show leadership skills to provide solutions to emboldened and skeptical citizens.

News Analysis: Medvedev's Future Dims as Term Ends
25 January 2012
By Jonathan Earle
As his term in office comes to a close, Dmitry Medvedev has made direct gubernatorial elections his last attempt at major reform. But in a sign of his dwindling influence, the effort has come under withering pressure from critics and even his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who suggested on Tuesday that the proposal needs more review.