Window On Eurasia: Russians Again View Their Country As A Great Power But One Lacking Some Qualities Needed To Attract Respect, Polls Show
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posted by eagle on April, 2010 as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 11 – More than three out of four Russians now say that their country is a great power, a dramatic turnaround from 1999 when only 14 percent agreed with that notion, but many of them tell pollsters that even now Russia lacks many of the characteristics needed to gain respect from other countries.
If the former judgment is testimony to Vladimir Putin’s efforts to promote a revived self-confidence among Russians, the latter one suggests that the boost he clearly gave to Russian feelings may have shallower foundations than many now think and could falter if conditions do not improve or take a long time to do so.
In a survey of data on how Russians see themselves and their country in the current issue of the Levada Center’s "Vestnik obshchestvennogo mneniya,” Lev Gudkov offers a wide variety of data, ...
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Window On Eurasia: Putin’s Time Has Passed And His Return To Presidency Would Be Dangerous For Russia, Moscow Experts Warn
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 12 – Vladimir Putin’s time has passed, his efforts to preserve rather than modernize the country’s political and economic systems are opening the way to disaster, and his return to the Russian presidency would be dangerous for Russia, according to two scholars who recently prepared a report about Russia’ future for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
In an interview published in today’s "Delovoy Peterburg,” Yevgeny Gontmakher, the head of the Center of Social Policy at the Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics, and Igor Yurgens, the head of the Moscow Institute of Contemporary Development, lay out the reasons for their conclusions (www.dp.ru/a/2010/04/12/CHto_budet_esli_Vladimir).
The paper’s Natalya Belogrudova begins by asking Yurgens whether as many in the West have suggested that Medvedev has "humanized the Russian powers that be.” Yurgens responds that Medvedev "represents a new generation of people” and that "it is absolutely evident” ...
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Window On Eurasia: ‘Birth Trauma’ Of Post-Soviet States Rooted In Problem of Property, Moscow Analyst Says
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 12 – The post-Soviet states, despite all a striking diversity in appearances, share a common "birth trauma” involving the definition and defense of property, according to a Moscow commentator. And unless that problem is resolved, he suggests, more radical, ratchet-like changes of the kind now seen in Kyrgyzstan are likely across the region.
In an article in today’s "Novaya gazeta,” Kirill Rogov suggests that the recent events in Kyrgyzstan, whose endpoint is still far from clear, prompts a reconsideration of "such phenomena on the political map of the world which is called ‘the countries of the former USSR’” (www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2010/038/13.html).
Rogov points to two trends that he says have characterized the region over the last decade. On the one hand, centrifugal forces have intensified as each countries tries to achieve its own economic profit, however much its leaders express a desire for cooperation with the other countries ...
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Window On Eurasia: Internet Drive To Oust Putin Shows Saying ‘No’ To Powers That Be Is Again ‘Good Tone,’ Commentator Says
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Dayton, April 7 – The Internet petition calling for Vladimir Putin to leave office, a drive that has now garnered nearly 50,000 signatures, has not only helped to power many protests around the Russian Federation, but it has made it clear, one Moscow analyst says, that "saying ‘no’ to the powers that be is becoming a matter of good tone.”
That is the same thing that happened under Gorbachev, Andrey Nekrasov says, arguing that the response to the petition shows that "a taste for freedom has again begun to appear” in Russia, opening the way for the country to make up for the chance he suggests it missed 20 years ago (www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4BBAFD5190DC0).
Nekrasov suggests that the eternal question "What next?” should be split in two – "What are we able to do?” and "What response from the side of the powers that be ...
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The Georgian Times: Vano Merabishvili: The war is not over yet
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posted by circassiankama on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Vano Merabishvili: The war is not over yet
Vano Merabishvili, the Minster of Internal Affairs who is considered a
close ally of Mikheil Saakashvili recently gave an interview to
Kommersant correspondent Olga Alenova about the opposition's chances in
the municipal elections and the Government's perspective on relations
between Georgia, Russia and the West.
The interview caused controversy in Georgia and received denunciation
for his comments on Georgia’s attitude towards Europe and some other
things.
The Georgian Interior Ministry said in a brief statement on April 7,
that in general the published interview "accurately reflects Minister’s
ideas, but some parts of it, particularly those concerning EU-Georgia
relations and North Caucasus, are cut out of the context.”
Here GT offers a full translation of this interview.
Q: Could the results of the upcoming local elections surprise the Georgian Government?
A: I do not think so, because our rating is high ... >> full
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