October 16, 2005 Judgement Day Curioser and curiouser...Apparently President Bush, with his appointment of Harriet Miers, is striving to imitate President Putin. To whit, this was reported by Kommersant, reported by RFE/RL in early October:"The Federation Council confirmed on 5 October Yelena Valyavina for the post of first deputy chairman of the Higher Arbitration Court..."According to Kommersant, Valyavina graduated from President Putin's alma mater, the law school at Leningra Russia File
October 11, 2005 Chechnya; Land of Conflict Republic of Chechnya and Russia; ancient ethnic conflict in modern times. History Int'l Relations Regions Russia File
September 29, 2005 What a difference a friend makes Today, Roman Abramovich is $13 billion richer, thanks to a lucrative sell-off of his oil company, Sibneft. The very fine linked Bloomberg article contrasts Abramovich's fate nicely with that of Mikhail Khodorokovsky, a similarly enriched oil magnate and oligarch, but one who did not play by "the rules." Moral of the story: it pays to have friends in high places in Russia. Well, only if, instead of sitting in a Moscow prison cell, you would rather be governor of a ma Russia File
September 23, 2005 Anniversary This Sunday is the 20th anniversary of Gorbachev's creation of the Anti Alcohol League. Na zdorovye! As if in fitting tribute, it was revealed today that the French liquor giant, Pernod Ricard, may be in talks to purchase the Russian brand... drumroll please... Stolichnaya. Is nothing sacred? Russia File
September 23, 2005 Khodortaystvo Last evening, the Khodorkovsky case was brought to a hurried close when the imprisoned oligarch's appeal was summarily rejected just as K's sentence (and that of his codefendant) were reduced to eight years. "I won't live that long," K commented on leaving the court. "What we are dealing with here is not the prosecutors or the judges, it is the full weight of the state machine. The political authorities are dictating what is going on here," the Moscow Times reported K's l Russia File
September 22, 2005 Fradkov Looking for One Good Man Oh, the perils of leadership. As reported in the recent issue of Argumenti i Fakty, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov recently took a trip to the little town of Sharya, in Kostroma oblast. There, he visited a forestry enterprise set up and run by Swiss masters. Looking over the uncommonly clean and efficient operation, Fradkov exclaimed, “And why can’t we do this? After all, our specialists are the best in the world.” The quest Russia File
September 21, 2005 Taste of Summer Ok, it has been a long summer, and time we got back to ramping up this blogject. Taste of Russia is just over and we are coming down from a high because we didn't get walloped by a hurricane, the way we did last year. Ophelia gave us a pass and we had sun, fun and kvas.Meanwhile, we are entering the home stretch on our November/December 05 issue. Some great stories in this issue, including a fascinating look back at what really happened Russia File
June 07, 2005 Book Picks - Health Editor's choice of books concerning Russia's health. Health Literature Russia File
May 24, 2005 Russian Email Habits Why is it that Russians don't answer email? We explore this conundrum, and whether it has some roots in Russian business or personal culture. Business Culture Russia File
March 01, 2005 Where the Russians Are A color-coded map of the US, showing which states have the highest percentage of Russian immigrants. Culture Int'l Relations Reference Russia File
February 02, 2005 Book Picks - Literature The quantity of great Russian literature titles and translations is virtually endless. Here are a few favorites from the editor. Literature Russia File
February 24, 2004 Putin Boots Kasyanov The probable has become inexorable. March 14, the date of Russia's Presidential Reelection, will now assuredly cement in place the most significant depluralization of Russian politics since 1989. Putin is expected to get between 70 and 80% of the vote that day -- a number reminiscent of when Brezhnev teetered to the polls.Meanwhile, there are no checks on executive power. Russia no longer enjoys a Free Press. There is no independent judiciary. The recently elected Duma is a Rubber St Russia File
