Andrei Piontkovsky

January 2006

Download East or West? (190 kilobyte PDF)

The break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a geopolitical earthquake that redrew the map of Europe and Central Asia. In his state-of-the-nation address, in April 2005, Russia's President Vladimir Putin went so far as to describe it as the 'biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century'. His declaration caused a stir among the world's political scientists, sociologists, economists and even philosophers. Yet the full import of his words was lost on much of his foreign audience. 'For the Russian people', Putin continued, the collapse of the Soviet Union 'became a real drama'.

Further information 

Jennifer Moll (ed.)

August 2005

Download Blueprint for Russia (250 kilobyte PDF)

This FPC publication explores political change in Russia. It is now available for purchase and will be launched at the FPC's Fringe Event at the Labour Party Conference.

Utilising each author's expertise, this pamphlet compiles a broad range of opinions to outline a Blueprint for Russia. The contributions focus on political change in Russia as it relates to the three key policy areas of law, the economy and political pluralism.

Further information 

Raffaella Murano

July 2005

Download Political Abuse of Judicial Process in Europe's East (110 kilobyte PDF)

This policy brief outlines some of the negative trends in rule of law compliance in the CIS, examining Russia, Ukraine and giving special consideration to the Republic of Moldova and the case of former Defence Minister, Valeriu Pasat. These negative trends represent a new pattern, whereby leaders are abusing newly constructed judicial systems to achieve extra-judicial, political goals.

CIS leaders must act now to regain the trust of their citizens by making sweeping changes, both physically and functionally to judicial systems. Other European countries and their multilateral institutions (EU, CoE and OSCE) need to acknowledge the emerging negative trend of judicial abuse and deliver both political incentives and assistance programmes more likely to have strategic effects on the practices of CIS judicial systems.

Oleg Panfilov

June 2005

Download the report (160 kilobyte PDF)

The re-emergence of the traditions of Soviet propaganda since 2000 represents a new era for the Russian media and domestic policy. This development has been facilitated by the dominance of Soviet-era journalists: up to 70 per cent of those currently working in the mass media in Russia were Soviet educated or employed by the Soviet media, where propaganda and counter-propaganda were considered an important part of state ideology.

Further information 

Andrei Kunov, Mikhail Myagkov, Alexei Sitnikov, Dmitry Shakin

April 2005

Download the report (240 kilobyte PDF)

The 2003 Duma elections saw an overwhelming victory for President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and drastic defeat for other political parties. Opposition calls for a recount went nowhere and many puzzles about voting trends in Russia went unanswered. This pamphlet presents the results of ground-breaking research from the Open Economy Institute in Moscow, using a new statistial method for understanding the flow of votes and electorate support between political parties. The authors find that the Russian electorate was far less predictable in the last cycle than in the first decade of modern Russian democracy; and argue that the prospects for an effective multi-party system are now bleak.

Further information 

Jennifer Moll

March 2005

Download the report (260 kilobyte PDF)

Europe has long desired a Russia that is both stable and governed by a democratic rule of law. It is for this reason that human rights remain a cornerstone of European policy toward Russia, especially in the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Russia's membership in these organisations not only confirms it as a full partner of Europe, but also as a state which shares its values.

The benchmarks for protection of human rights established by the Council of Europe and the OSCE stand in marked contrast to the current situation in Russia, where the vertical of power of the government increasingly leaves less room for the individual in favour of a more powerful central state - what President Putin calls a 'dictatorship of the law'.

Further information 

Preface by Andrew Jack, Analysis by Konstantin Sonin, Interview with Andrei Illarionov

January 2005

Download the report (230 kilobyte PDF)

After giving a controversial interview on Ekho Moskvy Radio on 30 December 2004, Andrei Illarionov, a former economic advisor to President Putin, stepped down from his post. He had previously issued public criticisms of Putin's reforms.

The interview with Illarionov is reproduced in this pamphlet, with a preface by Andrew Jack, recently returned Moscow correspondent for The Financial Times, and analysis by Konstantin Sonin.

Further information 

Dr Greg Austin

November 2004

Download the report (250 kilobyte PDF)

Written by FPC Research Director, Dr Greg Austin, with a foreword by Robin Cook MP, this pamphlet argues that a worrying shift towards authoritarianism has occurred in Russia in recent years. Britain and the EU must use their leverage to reverse the attacks made on hard-won democratic freedoms and renew the democratic dialogue with Russia.

• To View a full list of Dr Austin's publications click here

Fiona Hill

September 2004

Download the report (380 kilobyte PDF)

On the back of windfall revenues from oil and gas exports, Russia has transformed itself from a defunct military superpower into a new energy superpower. Instead of the Red Army, the penetrating forces of Moscow's power in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Asia are now its exports of natural gas, electricity, cultural products and consumer goods.

Sponsored by BP-Amoco

John Lloyd

March 2000

Re-engaging Russia sets out a radical new approach for the west as Russia enters a new political era. John Lloyd shows why Russia's stalled reform process has failed to deliver, causing mutual hostility and led to increasing calls for disengagement in both Russia and the west.

He argues that the way forward is not to disengage, but to engage differently – with the west seeking to spread relations much more broadly beyond a small elite, with reform being Russian-led and with the EU playing a more proactive role than in the past. Re-engaging Russia does not underestimate the scale of the challenges but marks an important attempt to redefine the way that western countries seeks to promotes its values and engage with other societies.

John Lloyd is a former East European Editor and Moscow bureau chief of the Financial Times. A freelance writer in London, he writes for the Financial Times, The New York Times, Scotland on Sunday, Prospect and other magazines. John is a member of the advisory council of The Foreign Policy Centre.

This project was supported by BP Amoco

Further information 

"Thought-provoking, highly enjoyable, creative and timely" Keith Vaz MP, Former Minister for Europe
"Characteristically thoughtful and well-written pamphlet by this outstanding journalist and Russia-watcher" Prof Archie Brown, St Anthony's, Oxford