Carnegie Moscow Center
Russia is no longer an empire, but it is not yet a nation-state either. To be seen as a great power in the twenty-first century, it has to reform its institutions and economy and become a great country.
While Russia is still an important global strategic player, thanks to its oil and gas reserves and nuclear arsenal, it lacks the will and the resources to enact a return to the Russian empire.
Mikhail Gorbachev reflects on the fall of the Soviet Union, U.S. actions in the last twenty years, and Putin and Medvedev’s roles in Russia today.
The mysterious assassinations of prominent politicians and journalists over the past fifteen years suggest that Russian state security may still be involved in politically-motivated crimes, even if they are not directly ordered by the country’s leaders.
On the twentieth anniversary of the closure of Kazakhstan's nuclear site Semipalatinsk, it is important to recognize the role the former weapons testing facility plays in strengthening the verification regime of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Twenty years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia’s disinterest in its former empire has been matched by the other former Soviet republics distancing themselves from the former imperial center.
Russians should recognize the significance of the popular victory over the August 1991 putsch, which prevented hard-line conservatives from reestablishing authoritarian rule and led to the end of communism in the country.
The fall of the Soviet Union and end of communism in Russia caught the world by surprise twenty years ago.
While the end of communism did not bring about an end of state paternalism or uncontested governance in Russia, the country’s post-communist development has led to a number of legitimate individual freedoms and the rise of a consumer society.
Twenty years after the end of the Soviet Union, Russia lacks a responsible and accountable government and is missing a shared sense of nationhood.