Carnegie Moscow Center
During his annual televised call-in show, Vladimir Putin proposed to reinstate the direct election of governors, which is perhaps the only serious political concession that he is offering.
Eurasia today is much broader than two decades ago, but it is also more interconnected. In this new environment, Russia should define its post-imperial role in ways that are appropriate for the 21st century.
If the growing Russian popular movement remains committed and tenacious, organized political challenges to Vladimir Putin’s power will eventually follow.
The recent rallies in Russian cities may indicate that, twenty years after the dismantlement of the Soviet Union, post-imperial Russia is beginning to emerge as a nation.
Tens of thousands of Russians took to the street in protest over voter fraud allegations in the country’s parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen what this public response and the election results will mean for the country’s future.
As Vladimir Putin and United Russia struggle to retain power, they are facing a new post-Soviet generation that grew up without a deeply ingrained fear of the Kremlin’s power. A confrontation between the ruling authorities and the people may be unavoidable.
Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party received just shy of 50 percent of the vote in the recent elections for Russia’s lower house in parliament, an unexpected blow to the once extremely popular ruler.
The recent elections in Russia saw a serious setback for the ruling United Russia party, reflecting the growing discontent of the country’s citizens.
When Russians vote for the State Duma on December 4, the economy will be the critical issue for voters in a country still struggling to fully recover from the financial crisis.
Dmitry Medvedev’s job title might change after the upcoming presidential elections, but his role will stay basically the same: he is essentially a public relations director for projects undertaken by Vladimir Putin.