American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Russia expert, Leon Aron, recently traveled through Russia interviewing leaders of grass-roots movements. In a just released Russian Outlook, Aron describes the transformation underway in Russia.

Grass-roots leaders are convinced that lasting Russian liberalization will come not from violent revolution or a great rupture imposed from above but from a mature civil society with the courage to control the executive. Thus, their work is not geared toward political change, but inner moral transformation, self-organization, and self-reliance.

Answering questions without a shade of fear or reticence and with remarkable thoughtfulness and self-awareness, the men and women we interviewed in Russia revealed deeply personal, passionate commitment to dignity in liberty and citizenship.

President Obama attacked Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget as “nothing but thinly veiled Social Darwinism.” That is not surprising. What is surprising is that the chairman of a major committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a similar scathing attack against Ryan.

Roger Scruton discusses why the environmental movement fits well under the umbrella of conservatism through his new book,  How to Think Seriously About the Planet.

The past two weeks of turmoil and drama in Sino-American affairs may well be the new normal, not an exception to an otherwise placid bilateral relationship. While Friday brought news of a possible deal allowing dissident Chen Guangcheng to leave China to study in America, that deal is no more certain than the earlier, failed deal, announced just days before

Please join AEI for a series of policy discussions on the Hill to mark the week of the State of the Union address. These discussions will frame the many challenges we face at home and abroad in 2012 while also offering solutions. Food will be provided at each of the events on the Hill, so please RSVP to guarantee your meal.  

Senator Carl Levin says that Facebook is exploiting a tax loophole in order to avoid paying taxes to the government. But Facebook is a textbook case of win-win-win: the company's creators get rich, society gets the benefit of an innovative communications platform, and the U.S. Treasury gets billions in new revenues.