09-22-2008

Russian Headlines

In the process of trying to move, I’m throwing away all of my old copies of The Economist. Before doing so, however, I decided to collect all of the articles that were published about Russia over the past few years. Needless to say, a lot has happened in and around Russia recently, and not a lot of it has been good. Here’s a collection of choice headlines:

• March 11, 2006
  Chechnya
  A thug in charge
  Chechnya gets a new prime minister
• April 22, 2006
  Great powers in the Middle East
  Russia is not a piece of furniture
  Kremlin watchers wonder what Vladimir Putin is up to with Hamas and Iran
• May 13, 2006
  Russian nationalism
  Playing a dangerous game
  Alarmist rhetoric from President Vladimir Putin; skinhead violence on Russian streets. Is there a connection?
• September 9, 2006
  Russian health and demography
  A sickness of the soul
  Russia’s demographic outlook is dire—even before it feels the full impact of AIDS
• October 14, 2006
  Obituary
  Anna Politkovskaya
  Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist, was shot dead on October 7th, aged 48
• December 16, 2006
  The Litvinenko affair
  Murder most opaque
  What a poisoned Russian agent tells us about the way Russia is governed
• January 13, 2007
  Russia and Belarus
  Loveless brother
  Another Russian gas conflict was averted, but a short oil war broke out instead. Europe should take heed
• February 24, 2007
  Russia
  The hollowing out of politics
  The installation of a warlord as Chechnya’s president reflects a wider trend as Russia braces for next year’s presidential election
• April 21, 2007
  Russian protests
  Democracy à la russe
  The brutal suppression of peaceful protests says much about the dangerously unfettered mood in the Kremlin
• May 12, 2007
  Estonia and Russia
  A cyber-riot
  Estonia has faced down Russian rioters. But its websites are still under attack
• May 26, 2007
  Relations with Russia
  Out of reach
  Britain’s attempt to extradite Andrei Lugovoi marks a new low in relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia
• July 28, 2007
  Russia
  Putin versus nobody serious
  Russia’s opposition is feeble, floundering and fading
• August 25, 2007
  Russia under Putin
  The making of a neo-KGB state
  Political power in Russia now lies with the FSB, the KGB’s successor
• October 6, 2007
  Vladimir Putin
  The never-ending presidency
  The president unveils hist plan for staying in power after next March
• December 8, 2007
  Russia
  The secret policeman’s election
  Vladimir Putin did not rig the ballot to win control of parliament, but to assert his power over the Kremlin’s warring factions
• December 15, 2007
  Russia’s presidency
  Enter Putin two
  From Vladimir Putin to Dmitry Medvedev: a very Russian way to change the political guard
• March 1, 2008
  Chechnya and the north Caucasus
  And they call it peace
  Vladimir Putin’s presidency began in Chechnya; the region is restive as it ends
• May 10, 2008
  Russia
  A strange Kremlin wedding
  A youthful Dmitry Medvedev is inaugurated Russian president, but a stern Vladimir Putin looms large behind him
• July 5, 2008
  Georgia, Abkhazia and Russia
  Tales from the Black Sea
  The Abkhaz and the Georgians have reason to resent each other—but both need to rebuild if they are to have a prosperous future
• July 12, 2008
  Missile defense
  Getting to first base
  An American missile-defense radar in the Czech Republic infuriates Russia
• August 16, 2008
  Russia and Georgia
  A scripted war
  Both sides are to blame for the Russian-Georgian war, but it ran according to a Russian plan
• August 23, 2008
  Russia and the West
  After Georgia
  After Georgia’s defeat, the west struggles to deal with a newly belligerent Russia
• August 30, 2008
  Russia and Georgia
  Put out even more flags
  Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will reverberate for a long time—not least at home