When Vladimir Putin returns to the Russian presidency on Monday, May 7, the pageantry surrounding his inauguration will aim to portray a picture of unassailable strength, a confident master of his domain invulnerable to pressures from within or without. But things are not quite as stable...

On December 7, 2003, Russians go to the ballot box to elect representatives to the Duma, the lower house of their national parliament. Although such elections have become an established part of Russian political life, they take place this year in a climate of growing fear about President Vladimir Putin’s...

There is a Russian saying, lyod tronulsya, which means the winter ice on the river has cracked and begun to move, that things have begun to change deeply and significantly. This is what's happening in today's Russia.

Thousands gathered in Moscow over the weekend to protest Russia’s falsified parliamentary election. The demonstrators gave the Kremlin a two-week ultimatum to schedule a new election, allow liberal political parties to appear on the ballot, and release opposition members detained during protests earlier in the week.

"Elections” of this sort are never just about the outcomes.

The coming cycle is well worth our attention, not because of the results but because of the political, social and economic contexts in which these elections are going to take place. This cycle is quite different from the three preceding ones, in 2000, 2004 and 2008. And therefore, what might happen after the election could be quite different as well.

2003 should have been a banner year for the Russian economy--GDP soared for the fourth consecutive year, while unemployment, poverty, and inflation fell. Real disposable income grew as well, and the Russian stock market scored among the best performing in the world. But Russia’s unprecedented boom has taken place...

The growth of Russia’s economy has been the success story of Vladimir Putin’s presidency. Since 2000, Russia’s GDP has increased by an average of 7 percent per year. Of late, however, the optimism about Russia’s economic future has been diminished by rising inflation, which has skyrocketed to over 11 percent...