Authorities in Tajikistan, an impoverished Central Asian nation ruled by strongman Emomali Rakhmon, have decided not to distribute a new Hollywood comedy about a fictional dictator stranded in New York. Authoritarian rulers aren't known for their ability to laugh at themselves. Perhaps it's no surprise then that authorities in Tajikistan, ruled by strongman Emomali Rakhmon since 1992, have decided not to distribute a new Hollywood comedy by the creator...

... jailed last year. She was sentenced to seven years on charges that she signed a damaging gas treaty with Russia during Putin’s tenure as prime minister. But Putin, who seemed comfortable in the company of CSTO and CIS leaders — many of them authoritarian rulers — did not appear in front of media at the event, despite earlier indications that he might do so. After the summit, the CSTO members produced a joint declaration expressed their dismay over U.S. plans to build a missile shield...

... against the scattered street protests held on the eve of his inauguration and during the following days. What's more, the streets along Putin's motorcade route were completely cleared of cars and pedestrians, sending an unequivocal signal regarding the authoritarian style of his rule. Of course, Putin is capable of ordering much harsher measures than mass arrests, detentions and OMON truncheons beating the heads of protesters. But I would not rush to conclude that his regime will tighten the screws...

... moved up one spot from last year, when it was ranked 173, on par with Congo, Gambia, and again Zimbabwe. In explaining Russia's rating, the group compared the country to Iran and Venezuela, both also ruled by powerful executive branches. "Other authoritarian powers—such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela—resorted to a variety of techniques to maintain a tight grip on the media, detaining some press critics, closing down media outlets and blogs, and bringing libel or defa¬mation suits...

... billionaire chairman of the holding company that owns MTS, said in a statement broadcast on Turkmen state television Thursday that services would be resumed within three to six months. A deal agreed Wednesday between Yevtushenkov and Turkmenistan’s authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov ends an acrimonious dispute that had tarnished the former Soviet nation’s image among international investors. The mobile-phone sector in Turkmenistan was dealt a devastating blow in late 2010...

... rose to cautious optimism, then diminished into disappointment. When Medvedev opened a Twitter account in June 2010 while on a visit to Silicon Valley, it was seen as a sign that he wanted to modernize Russia's economy and move away from the stiff, authoritarian ways of Putin. But Medvedev's 527 tweets as president (398 in English) reveal a man whose initial enthusiasm dissipated and who distanced himself from the drama around him — as Putin showed he was still boss. In his first days on Twitter...

... Russia's democracy. What we have witnessed over the past few days is disturbing. It is easy for foreign investors to write off frictions involving democracy as a domestic problem that does not affect their activities. China is the poster child of an authoritarian government whose hard-line stance on democratic-minded citizens has been successfully separated from its foreign investor-friendly business policies. But Russia is not China. Political turmoil inevitably translates into economic instability...

... Ilyumzhinov. The former leader of the Kalmykia republic famously dropped by Saddam Hussein's Baghdad on the eve of the U.S. invasion in 2003, and played a game of chess with Moammar Gadhafi as NATO bombs rained down on war-ravaged Libya last year. Both of the authoritarian Arab rulers were subsequently killed. Ilyumzhinov spent three hours in talks with Assad in late April after flying in from an event in Chicago where he rubbed shoulders with celebrities including Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Hollywood...

... European Parliament, to visit Aktau. The attempt to blame the Zhanaozen massacre on the strikers without bringing the law enforecement officials who were responsible for the killings and subsequent beatings and torture to justice shows how far Kazakhstan's authoritarian regime is willing to brutalize its citizens. Robert Jones is the coordinator in Russia for CampaignKazakhstan.org . 459352

... responds to that pressure will determine his political legacy. And the West's response to Putin's return to the presidency could have a marked effect on whether he presses for liberalizing reforms and survives, or whether he will follow his KGB-honed authoritarian instincts and stoke further protest. Nothing illustrates Russia's malaise under Putin better than the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working for Hermitage Capital. He uncovered a massive tax fraud and alleged widespread collusion by...

... Putin will start his third presidential term under radically different circumstances than even eight months ago. In the coming months, Putin can expect to face ever-increasing opposition from civil society as an increasing number of people reject his authoritarian model of government and demand more democracy and rule of law. This growing civil society is being driven by a powerful middle class. Only several years ago, most members of this class were politically passive and focused on consumerism...

... relations with Russia “as conditions have changed” after the power shift in the Kremlin. While Medvedev as a president has improved Russia’s image abroad, “Putin has systematically transformed Russia from a semi-democracy to an authoritarian state,” Åslund said. “Because Russia is no longer a democracy by any stretch of the word, the basis for Russia’s membership in the G8 has evaporated,” he said. In 1997, Russia was welcomed into the G8 —...

... to be undertaken," he said. Some are already sounding the alarm bell of worse things to come. "It's clear that a further escalation of the civil conflict in Russia is unavoidable, simply because society has outgrown being a semi-colonial, authoritarian, natural resource appendage to the developed world," opposition leader Yevgenia Chirikova said on her blog. Diskin, the United Russia-connected analyst, painted an even darker picture, saying the protests will carry on until someone...

... partly fueled by the disappointment of those who hoped Medvedev could change the country into something better. “When he began as president, there was a strong expectation that he would realize his modernization program and change Putin’s authoritarian course. But the hopes began to fade amid growing understanding that he is impotent,” Gudkov said by telephone. Gudkov also argued that the way Medvedev’s ratings shadowed those of Putin throughout his presidency prove that most...