Brian Whitmore is the author of RFE/RL's popular Power Vertical blog, written especially for Russia wonks and obsessive Kremlin watchers, and the host of the weekly Power Vertical Podcast.
In many ways, 2011 was the year Russian civil society woke up from its long slumber and found its voice -- powered by a newly politically conscious urban middle class.
Three leading figures in the Russian state -- President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov -- have been severely weakened by the December 4 election result. Former Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov, who has reinvented himself as an opposition figure, meanwhile, looks like the big winner. What are the implications?
The heavy losses suffered by the ruling United Russia party in parliamentary elections at the weekend is a reflection of dramatic changes in the Russian Federation in recent years, according to analysts.
Vladimir Putin will return to the Kremlin for at least one, and most likely two, six-year terms starting in 2012. Russia today is not the Russia of a decade ago or even five years ago, when people were prepared to sacrifice civil liberties and democratic niceties in exchange for rising living standards.So what can we expect? Here are some possible scenarios for how Putin's second stint in the Kremlin might play out
What will it take to get Georgian politics off the streets and into the parliament? Last month's violent protests and the ensuing police crackdown has left a bitter aftertaste for many Georgians. Will the latest round of violence lead to a catharsis?
Vladimir Putin is an "alpha dog" struggling to rule a "virtual mafia state." Dmitry Medvedev is "pale and hesitant" and plays "Robin to Putin's Batman." This is the image of Russia that emerged from leaked diplomatic cables disclosed on November 28 by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. What do the revelations mean for the rapidly changing Russian-U.S. relationship?
The lightning talks, which lasted about 90 minutes, focused on economic cooperation, security issues, energy, and the environment, the three leaders said in a joint appearance after the talks. They also touched on looming economic fears, as both sides appealed to world leaders to resist the temptation to devalue their currencies for quick economic gain.
At a NATO summit in Lisbon, the military alliance follows up on U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to improve bilateral ties with Moscow with a series of agreements.
Twenty years after the end of communism -- and four decades after the Red Army crushed the Prague Spring in 1968 -- a few lonely voices are warning that the Czech Republic and its neighbors are in danger of falling under Moscow's influence once again. This time, they say, the threat isn't from Russia's tanks but the one business in which Russia leads the world: energy.
Georgians used to worry they would be the victims of better U.S.-Russian relations. But officials in Tbilisi now say U.S. President Barack Obama's reset with Moscow is actually enhancing their security.
A crisis erupts in a former Soviet state and Russia is reluctant to intervene alone and is instead calling for a multilateral response. Is the crisis in Kyrgyzstan the shape of things to come in the region?
Exit polls from key municipal elections across Georgia suggest President Mikheil Saakashvili's National Movement has won around 60 percent of the vote in the capital.
More than a week after explosions left 90 people dead at Russia's Raspadskaya coal mine, the accident -- and the too-little-too-late government reaction that followed -- is stirring class resentment. That, in turn, is spooking the authorities, who fear the specter of politicized miners.
Lavish celebrations planned in Moscow marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II have been overshadowed by a controversy over whether to display posters of Soviet wartime leader Josef Stalin.
From the era of Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev to the presidencies of George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, Russian and American leaders have touted their personal chemistry. How does Barack Obama's rapport with Dmitry Medvedev stack up?
(INTRO) Signing an arms accord with Russia wasn't the only item on U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda today (April 8) in Prague. Obama also met leaders from 11 NATO allies in former Communist Eastern Europe in an effort to reassure them that their interests remain important to Washington even as it resets relations with Moscow. RFE/RL Correspondent Brian Whitmore reports.
Being an ethnic minority in the Russian capital can be a stressful experience even in ordinary times. But after Monday's double attack in the Moscow metro, Moscow residents from the Caucasus and Central Asia are especially on edge.
In the aftermath of the March 29 metro bombings in Moscow, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is talking tough, vowing to drag terrorists "from the depths of the sewer." But a growing chorus of voices is saying that Putin's antiterrorist policies are a failure. Citizens have sacrificed their political rights and civil liberties, but are still not safe.
With Russia and the United States on the verge of finalizing a nuclear weapons treaty that slashes arsenals to their lowest level in half a century, analysts say the pact's benefits should stretch well beyond arms control.
An era ends in Tatarstan as Mintimer Shaimiyev steps down as the Russian republic's president after serving for nearly two decades.
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