Carnegie Moscow Center
The young urban Russians who took part in wildfire rescue efforts after the authorities proved inefficient and unprepared are the genuine force for modernization and democratization in the country.
The inadequate response to Russia's forest fires illustrates Moscow’s inability to respond to large scale disasters and how Russia’s vertical power structure undermines the ability of local authorities to respond to crises.
Recent rallies staged by a group called Strategy 31, demanding that the Kremlin respect the constitutional right of freedom of assembly, have demonstrated the Russian government’s discomfort with unsponsored political activism.
While the Kremlin’s new ModernRussia web site is intended to provide a platform for news and feedback on investment opportunities in Russia, it is ultimately more about public relations than actually attracting investors.
The departure of governors like Bashkortostan President Rakhimov is the result of a Kremlin operation which is replacing a generation of heavyweights by lesser-known officials with no interest in public politics. The Kremlin’s candidate to replace Rakhimov as president is Rustem Khamitov, a former Bashkortostan minister and chief federal inspector who then left the republic.
The North Caucasus remains one of the toughest challenges facing Russia today and the problems that have accumulated there over the past decades require an equally long and serious strategic approach to resolve.
At the 2010 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Medvedev appealed to investors to put their money into the Russian economy. However, corruption continues to kill investor interest in Russia.
This year, President Medvedev has broken with tradition and begun selecting some lesser-known candidates for gubernatorial posts, to the detriment of several political heavyweights.
The Russian government has been stepping up efforts to cancel the direct election of mayors following the cancellation of direct gubernatorial elections in 2004.
United Russia is preparing for the October regional elections, its first serious test run prior to the State Duma elections in 2011, and the result of these preparations may see the party changed for the better.