Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The appointment of Khloponin as envoy for the new North Caucasus Federal District is an attempt by Moscow to tackle growing instability in the region. But while Khloponin has strong business credentials, he lacks experience in federal governance.
The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election brought no particular surprises. Regardless of who wins in the second round, Russian-Ukrainian relations will get a positive new boost.
Medvedev’s recent gubernatorial nominations demonstrate both the Kremlin’s support for existing governors who have supported regime policies in the past as well as a new model for nominations that fills gubernatorial posts with members of the local political elite.
A new procedure in Russia’s gubernatorial elections that allows the party dominating the regional legislature to nominate gubernatorial candidates only perpetuates the worst problems of the previous system of appointments.
The five post-Soviet Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—share common political, cultural, and historical roots, but they are far from homogeneous, and continuing domestic and regional tensions could lead to violent conflict.
As the war in Afghanistan begins to enter a new phase, it is important to reexamine some of the premises of U.S. policy in the Central Asian region and to consider whether the conditions in the region have changed in the last decade.
The North Caucasus looks and feels more and more like Russia’s neighbor than a constituent part of the state. As the people in the region have become disappointed in local leaders and the Kremlin, many of them turn to Islam as their last hope to achieve structure and peace.
Although Prime Minister Putin’s eighth annual call-in show was much livelier than the typical state television coverage of the government’s public policy, it will take much more than a yearly show to establish a genuine two-way dialogue between the government and the people.
President Medvedev's recent annual address reveals a political style characterized by sharp and wide-ranging criticisms, rhetorical flourishes, and the absence of a bridge between his strategic plans and his concrete proposals.
The Carnegie Moscow Center works to facilitate Andrew Carnegie’s belief that the world could be made a better place through the spread of knowledge and international cooperation. This year, the Center celebrates its 15th anniversary.