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.
Thousands of protesters gathered across Russia to protest the authorities' handling of the economic crisis and demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin's government.
The fallout over a fake news report of a Russian invasion that caused widespread panic in Georgia continues, with President Mikheil Saakashvili facing criticism from all quarters.
A quarter of a century ago, Mikhail Gorbachev began ushering in an era of change that still reverberates today.
One day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced major law-enforcement reforms, a Moscow court has sentenced a former Moscow police officer to life in prison for a fatal April 2009 shooting spree.
After a messy week, the Kremlin finally got its way with the unanimous approval of Moscow's choice for governor of a energy-rich Siberian region. But with Russia's regions becoming increasingly restive, and calls for a return to the direct election of governors becoming louder, the victory comes at a price.
Does the resurrection of pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, the villain of Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, signal the end of the pro-democratic wave that swept through much of the post-Soviet space over the past decade? Not necessarily -- and that's good news for Ukraine and its neighbors.
A potential deal on Iran’s nuclear program provided the biggest news so far at this year’s annual Munich Security Conference. But the continuing rise of China as a major world power was the underlying subtext.
It's been a year since U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said it was time to "press the reset button" with Russia. As this year's Munich gathering gets under way, how does the new U.S. policy look from Moscow?
Georgian media with ties to President Mikheil Saakashvili have launched a mudslinging campaign against opposition figure Irakli Alasania. The apparent reason: Alasania promises to be a strong candidate in Tbilisi’s mayoral elections this May, and is expected to use that post as a staging pad for a presidential bid.
U.S. President Barack Obama has been gently pushing troublesome states toward better behavior. Will his "nudge" policy bear fruit?
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is heading a conference in Prague aimed at redefining NATO's mission for the 21st century. Strengthening the alliance's Article 5 collective defense clause and balancing out-of-area missions with the need to protect member states are high on the agenda.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit to Russia this week illustrates the increasingly deep ties developing between Moscow and Ankara. From energy policy to the Caucasus and the Middle East, a resurgent Russia and an increasingly confident Turkey are competing, cooperating, and vying for influence, both locally and globally. It's a complicated dance that could have far-reaching implications.
As Europe this year marked two decades since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the wave of democratic expansion that swept across the former Soviet space appeared to be ebbing. Has the democratic dream of 1989 run its course?
It's election season in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region as voters go to the polls for the first time since last summer's war in the Caucasus and Russia's move to recognize Abkhaz independence. Incumbent leader Sergei Bagapsh is favored to win a second term as de facto president. But Abkhazia's true rulers are in Moscow.
With nearly 1,000 troops committed, what is the tiny South Caucasus country getting in return?
U.S. and Russian negotiators are not likely to have a new START treaty ready before the existing Cold War-era arms accord expires at midnight. But both sides are expressing optimism that a new nuclear arms reduction pact will be signed soon.
In a nationally televised marathon session, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took pre-screened questions from ordinary citizens. As he sought to reassure a public presented as nervous about the economic crisis and terrorism, Putin also gave the clearest indication yet that he may run for president again in 2012.
The death of an attorney for Hermitage Capital in a Moscow prison has put a spotlight on the bitter fight between the investment fund and the Russian authorities. Sergei Magnitsky's colleagues say he was being pressured to give false testimony, and that pressure included denial of basic medical treatment.
Before the autumn revolutions in Eastern Europe, there was the Moscow Spring in the Soviet Union. In 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policies hit their high-water mark, as the USSR held its first competitive elections, press freedom flourished, and civil society awakened.
As his allegations of widespread police corruption shake Russia's political elite, police major Aleksei Dymovsky arrives in Moscow to elaborate on his claims. The police officer claims to have hours of incriminating recordings proving that his superiors and colleagues ordered false arrests and drug plants on innocent suspects.
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