The Russia project will include a series of seminars, public lectures by prominent international figures, related publications and a major conference. A high priority objective will be to achieve wider UK discussion of political events in Russia that affect the durability of the democratic reforms already put in place over the thirteen years since Boris Yeltsin was first elected as President of the Russian Republic in June 1991. A key reference point of the project will be the five years of the Presidency of Vladimir Putin, first appointed to the post in January 2000 after Yeltsin stepped down. A major event in the project will be an international conference in January 2005 to mark the fifth anniversary of Putin's assumption of the Presidency.

The FPC proposes to focus on the mechanisms by which Western governments, especially the UK, can revitalise the question of Russian democratic governance as one of the central issues of European politics today. The FPC will address ways that the UK can apply whatever leverage it possesses (including through multilateral economic co-operation agreements) to vigorously promote the protection of the hard-won rights and freedoms in Russia.

The Future of Russia Project would focus on four principal areas of policy:

• Effectiveness of public scrutiny of the Russian situation in the light of its commitments in European institutions
• Effectiveness of high level channels and quiet diplomacy
• Use of leverage available from multilateral lending agencies
• Role of the Western media and proxy organisations, such as NGOs and community groups, in opening up debate about European interests in Russia's political developments.

There would be four main vehicles for the project:

• High level forums engaging governments, journalists, non-government leaders, business and academic communities
• Publication of policy reports and papers from Russian authors under a suitable rubric such as 'Russia-Europe: Democracy Politics'
• Publication of policy reports and papers from international observers (business, government, journalists and academics) on the various Russian perceptions of political development in Russia
• Associated public forums, newspaper articles and public lectures.

Seminar Themes

1. Press Freedom in Russia: Press freedom in Russia has been under siege in the last few years. The Putin Administration has systematically dismantled the free press in order to replace it with pro-Putin press. Biased information from state media has been coupled with the active obstruction of journalists reporting on Chechnya. Additionally, the Administration has intimidated the remaining elements of the free press through kidnappings, violence and murders. This seminar will focus on how NGOs and multilateral agencies can enrich and bolster the roots of free press in Russia. It will concentrate on the necessity of an independent press for democracy to take hold and flourish in Russia.
2. Civil liberties and Crime in Russia: Putin's retrenchment of democratic reforms has been defended by some who cite a visible need to reduce crime and corruption. This defence of the curtailing of an independent media is clearly not justified. Russia and the West both claim to be committed to fighting terror, but there is mutual distrust over how to do so. Russia has refused to link Iraq to the war on terror, Western observers reject Russian claims that its action in Chechnya is part of the war on terrorism. This seminar will focus on how Russia and the West can best cooperate to reduce crime and combat terror. It will concentrate on how this pooling of resources can best be tied to the preservation of civil liberties, and the primacy of civilian authorities over the security services and military in Russia.
3. Russia's Human Rights Record: What Can be Done? Although Russia is a prominent member of the UN, OSCE and Council of Europe, it is in breach of many of its international commitments. It is held to have lost interest in institutions such as the OSCE and Council, making it harder to hold to account. This seminar will focus on how the West can simultaneously persuade Russia of the ongoing importance of these organisations, and the necessity of abiding by agreements related to them.
4. The Russian economy and the rule of law: Since the 1998 crash, the Russian economy has recovered, in large part thanks to high energy prices. Strong links have grown between the UK energy sector - with BP in the lead - and Russia. However, the country remains a challenging investment environment, not least because of questions over the political uses of the rule of law. This seminar will focus on how Western governments and companies can co-operate with their Russian counterparts to create a more transparent business environment that fosters both commerce and civil liberties.
5. The Future of Multiparty Democracy in Russia: The formation of the United Russia Party and its steady climb to 'popularity' and almost unassailable dominance has been aided and abetted by the clear abuse of state power under Putin. Many, including Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a Moscow sociologist, have documented a 'creeping KGB coup'. Nearly half the members of the Security Council are 'siloviki', or ex-officers in the policy, military or FSB, and siloviki account for as many as 70 percent of all senior regional officials as well. Tendencies towards a one-party state have been coupled with the harassment of independent or opposition candidates and vote rigging. The Chilean model of the Pinochet regime, often touted between 1989 and 1991 as the most likely form of government to succeed the Communist Party in Russia, appears to be emerging in strength and presents clear dangers for UK interests.

The Foreign Policy Centre Approach

The Foreign Policy Centre has a cross-cutting, comparative approach. This allows us to emphasise comparisons between sets of issues in one country with how they are playing out in others. Over the last two years we have run several major cross-cutting European projects, of which The Next Generation Democracy looked at the future of European democracy with partners in France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. The FPC has recently launched new work on political pluralism in China and will be looking at new work in the same area on India and Indonesia.