Civiliki
Medvedev’s Generation
By Sean at 20 July, 2009, 11:30 am
If history is any indication, a gerontocracy can kill a political system. The Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc states suffered from it. It currently plagues China. And the recent protests in Iran certainly point to some kind of generational conflict is coming to a boil. The failure to ensure the mobility of young people [...]
Read More >>Clan Illogic
By Sean at 16 June, 2008, 12:49 am
Jeffrey Tayler takes up clanology in his article “The Master and Medvedev” in hopes to map the innards of Kremlin Inc (hat tip to James at Robert Amsterdam for pointing to it). Tayler argues that Putin’s anointing of Medvedev as President, who in turn returned the favor by making his patron PM, was a [...]
Read More >>A Conspiracy Behind the Rumor?
By Sean at 1 May, 2008, 10:30 am
The political fallout from Moskovskii Korrespondent’s rumor about Putin dumping his wife Liudmila for contortionist extraordinaire and Olympic medalist Alina Kabaeva is taking political shape. Last Friday, the Duma passed an amendment to the mass media law that adds slander to the list of unmentionables such as revealing state secrets, supporting terrorism, advocating pornography, and [...]
Read More >>The Rise of the “Civiliki” and Provincial Elite Warfare
By Sean at 8 March, 2008, 1:26 pm
Western leaders have been hoping and praying that Dmitri Medvedev will be more “liberal” in foreign and domestic policy. According to a LexisNexis search the new President elect’s name is often followed with words like “liberal,” “liberal instincts,” “liberal inclinations,” and the like. It’s not that Medvedev hasn’t given Westerners any reason to hope. Take [...]
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