U.S. Allows Russia Exceptions in Iranian Sanctions

In the New York Times article "U.S. Makes Concessions to Russia for Iran Sanctions", published on May 21st, Baker and Sanger explain the U.S.'s actions in regards to the Russia's involvement with the Iranian weaponry. The U.S. lifted American sanctions against the Russian military complex and agreeing not to ban the sale of Russian anti-aircraft batteries to Tehran. These actions were made as a result of the increasing trust between the two nations, although they have drawn many critics. However, Obama's administration sites Russia's reluctance to deliver the order of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran as a sign of Russia's trustworthiness.

This article relates to Comparative Government because of the huge foreign policy issues. As the U.N. increasingly supports sanctions against Iran, Russia finds itself split between forging strong ties with the west and maintaining a trade relationship with Iran.

Bleak Outlook for Russian Journalists

Summary:

This editorial talks about how Russia is a very difficult place to be a journalist. Since 1992, 32 journalists have been murdered in Russia. Much of this was while journalists were reporting on incidents of organized crime or the war in Chechnya. The Kremlin has persistently tried to silence the reports of independent journalists, and most of the cases of murdered journalists are still unresolved. This shows the measures that some people in Russia will go to in pursuit of silencing the press.

Correlation:

This related to comparative government because it shows us how Russia is still at a major deficit of transparency and how there is still a lot of corruption in the Russian government. This shows that Russia still has a long way to go before their government becomes a functioning democracy.

Six-year-old with weird name refused birth certificate

The article, "Six Year Old With Weird Name Refused Birth Certificate" published on February 18th, 2009 on the Russian website Rianovosti, is about a 6 year old boy (who was born on June 6, 2002) whose parents named him BOCh RVF 26062002. The Moscow authorities refused to give this boy a birth certificate. Registration officials refused to register the boy's name, which translates into a Russian acronym for Biological Human Object of the Voronin-Frolov Genus , to "protect the boy's own interests." The parents have insisted on registering the name. Tatyana Ushakova, on of Moscow's registration officials had said. "This was done [being denied a birth certificate] to protect the interests of the boy. His parents need to think about the boy and how he can live with a name like that and not think about their own ambitions." There is no legislation in Russia against giving children odd names. However, the parents referred their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; the complaint was turned down. In 2008, a number of other odd names were registered in Russia, including the English equivalent of North, Dolphin, Wind, and Moon. However, in 2005 the names Leaf Salad, Aviation Dispatcher, Russia, Privatization, Cool, Viagra and Simply a Hero were registered.the This weird Russian name was compared to a 9 year old girl in New Zealand, whose parents named her "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii". Judge Murfitt declined these parents a birth certificate. A list of names that New Zealand registrars had refused to register, including Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Fish and Chips. However the names Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence somehow got through.

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Obama Prepares to Revive Nuclear Pact with Russia

My article is about President Obama’s intentions to revive a civilian nuclear agreement with Russia that was dropped by Bush two years ago in protest of Russia’s war with Georgia. The pact is part of Obama’s intentions to fix Russian relations and gain support for sanctions against Iran. The deal would allow extensive commercial nuclear trade, technology transfers and joint research between the two countries. Critics of the agreement say that Obama is too quick to make this decision and that the agreement would not necessarily halt trade between Russia and Iran. Both sides are said to be optimistic about the deal.

This relates to what we’ve learned in comparative government because it demonstrates changes in relations between Russia and the West. This also shows how Russia is now left in difficult position, as it is almost impossible to hold nuclear relations with both the U.S. and Iran because of the hostilities between the two countries. Publication of the discussion shows that both countries are have a lot of transparency about the issue. This also shows that passing of the agreement could have a multitude of both positive and negative consequences for both countries because of Iran’s role as a third party in the agreement.

Photo credit: http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/obama-medevev-415x305.jpg

Eastern Europe Seeks to Diversify Energy Supply

In the New York Times article "Eastern Europe, Seeking Energy Security, Turns to Shale Gas", published on May 11, 2010, Judy Dempsey discusses the recent exploration into the field of shale gas as an alternative energy source. Eastern European countries are currently looking into mining for shale gas in the Polish regions of the Baltic, Podlasie, and Lublin Basin. The countries that would benefit from any significant shale findings are all seeking increased energy security and independence from Russian oil. Poland also wants to link pipelines with Western Europe in order to protect the supply of energy from shortages, like the Russia-Ukraine energy disputes in 2005 and 2008.

This desire for separation from the Russian oil market does not bode well for the Russian economy, as an increasing amount of business is shifted to alternative energy sources. Foreign investors no longer feel comfortable with the rocky Russian oil supply, and therefore Russia is going to definitely need to diversify its economy to ensure no economic downturn in the near future do to shifting oil demands.

Putin Suggests Human Error in Mine Disaster

Summary:
This article, published on May 11th in the New York Times, Putin explains how the explosion of the Raspadskaya mine on Saturday was a "human error." The Raspadskaya mine produces 12 percent of Russia’s coking coal, which is used in steel production. In 2008, government inspectors cited the mine for safety violations involving conveyer belts and rail transport, and forced it to close for 15 days. In January of this year, one miner was killed when ceiling supports collapsed. Last Saturday, Russia's largest coal mine exploded after a sensor displayed a dangerously high level of methane within the mine. Government officials have said the most likely explanation is an enormous underground burst of gas — what one expert called “a mystery of nature.” Prime Minister Putin suggested that the “human factor”, which is “someone’s careless treatment of fire,” could have caused the entrapment of 86 miners and rescue workers underground. Putin has referred to this occurrence as an "enormous tragedy", one to which "we need answers." Regardless of Putin's assertion that this disaster was the result of "human error", others think otherwise. Mr. Badalov, of the Miners Union, says that the equipment failure was not the cause of the blast, and that a large deposit of methane had leaked into the mine with the first explosion, accumulating over the next four hours until it burst into a fireball so powerful that buildings above were blown to pieces." Also, Vadim Potapov, of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Coal and Coal Mining said, “We could be looking at a sudden emission of methane as large as tens of thousands of cubic meters. That kind of emission taking place deep underground could be considered a mystery of nature.”


Correlation: This article demonstrates that Putin, as Prime Minister, deals with most of the problems happening within Russian society and deals with most of the publicity. This shows how the Prime Minister tends to have more actual power than the President, leaving the President as being merely the head of state and a figurehead. This also correlates to transparency and shows how Russia is slowly developing more transparency. Instead of the government attempting to dispute that any mine explosion occurred, they are openly informing the public as to what exactly happened and they are also informing them as to why they think what occurred happened. Lastly, this demonstrates statism because the mines are a state owned corporation, not privately owned, and mine unions are still in existence.


Photo Credit


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Allies Join Forces for Russia's Victory Day Celebration

In the New York Times article titled "Western Troops Join Russia's in Victory Day Celebration", published on May 9, Clifford Levy tells of western participation in Russia's largest secular holiday celebrating the Allies victory over Nazi Germany. The participation by NATO countries including France, the U.S., and Britain, signified Russia's improved relations with the West. In the past Russia has used the Victory Day celebration to show its western sentiments as Putin utilized it to instill hostilities towards the U.S., but this year Medvedev gladly shared the glory of the Allies victory with the other countries in attendance. However, not all shared his sentiment. There were some, mainly Communists and Nationalists, that protested the other countries' participation, although most saw it as a sign of respect. In Russia WWII is "intensely memorialized and dramatized" seeing as Russia lost approximately 25 million lives, and therefore the Russian citizens do not mind the display of such symbols as the sickle and hammer on Victory Day.

This Victory Day Celebration exhibits a huge shift in foreign relations between Russia and the West, and the friendliness should hold for quite some time. However, the protestations of some signify a social cleavage between those that trust the West and those who continue to remain suspicious.

Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families

Summary: The article Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families written by Clifford J. Levy from the New York Times, describes the problems within the Russian adoption system. Firstly, Russian has more orphans now than than had after World War 2, when 25 million people were killed. They have a staggering 700,000 orphans. Within the last 3 years, 30,000 kids were sent back to orphanages in Russia after having been adopted. To make matters worse, The percentage of children who are designated orphans is four to five times higher in Russia than in Europe or the United States. Of those, 30 percent live in orphanages. Most of them are children who have been either given up by their parents or removed from dysfunctional homes by the authorities. Usually, Russia doesn't pay attention to severe troubles within their civil society. Although, Russian authorities are starting to acknowledge the trouble within their adoptive system. This acknowledgment happened after a Russian boy, who was adopted by American parents, was sent alone back to Moscow by his adoptive parents. This situation embarrassed Russian Officials, and they are currently working on a new set of rules in regards to the Russian adoption agency. The Foreign Minister has ordered that American adoptions will be temporary suspended, until the new set of rules is created. Many think that the surplus of orphans is due to a lack of Russian values. Russians don't tend to focus on the value of family, and doesn't put pressure on families staying together. The Russian government spends roughly $3 billion annually on orphanages and similar facilities, creating a system that is an important source of jobs and money on the regional level — and a target for corruption. As a result, it is in the interests of regional officials to maintain the flow of children to orphanages and then not to let them leave. When adoptions are permitted, families, especially foreign families, have to pay large fees and navigate a complex bureaucracy. The chairman of the "Right Of the Child" group says that, "The system [adoption] has one goal, to preserve itself." He also said that in 2008, 115,000 children in Russia were designated as without parental care, typically after being removed from their homes by caseworkers. Only 9,000 children were returned to their parents that year. In the United States, where reuniting families is a primary goal, the percentage is far higher. Over all, 13,000 children were officially adopted in 2008 — 9,000 by Russians and 4,000 by foreigners. Although, only a single child has been adopted from an orphanage this year.

Correlation: This correlates to comparative government because it further displays the corruption with Russian civil society. This shows that the Russian elitist system is still in existence, that the Russian bureaucrats who are making money off the adoption business care more about preserving the system in order to keep garnering money instead of caring about the welfare about the kids. Also, it shows that the transparency in the political system is increasing because the Russian authorities are starting to care about problems within their system and wanting to change it. Also, Russian authorities aren't disputing that these problems are occurring and they are acknowledging them and wanting to change them. This shows a step towards further liberalization in Russia. Lastly, this correlates with globalization because other countries, specifically Americans, are adopted Russian children which shows the relationship between Russia and foreign countries.

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Bombings in the Moscow Metro

In the recent Economist article "After the Moscow bomgings: Another Russian Tragedy", published March 31, 2010, the author explains the after effects of the recent suicide bombing in two Moscow Metro stations. Although less people are frequenting the public transportation system, it is up and running again only twelve hours after the bombings. The Metro stations were bombed by two female suicide bombers who were quickly identified by the security teams. The speedy recovery was indicative of the entire effort put forth by the Russian government. Many point fingers to the Muslim northern Caucuses of Russia that have been the recent cause of so much civil unrest. However, few Russians outside of that region pay any attention to the shocking events that occur there almost daily. The bombings haven't even attracted any attention as politicians use them for their own political gain. Some officials claim that the bombings are the fault of liberals who allow the expression of government dissent. Others argue that this is the reason that independent news broadcasts and regional elections should be stopped.

The social cleavage between the Russians and the Muslims of the northern Caucasus as Russians eagerly point fingers towards the Muslims. Also, the idea that this bombing should be reason to take away free expression and elections shows that Russia is increasingly moving away from democaracy and towards an authoritarian government.

Thousands protest against Putin in Russian city

Summary:

In the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia, thousands gathered to protest the high costs of living and demanding to see Prime Minister Vladimir Putin put out of office. The protesters were heard shouting things like: "Down with this useless state power, down with United Russia." The protest was filled with red hammer-and-sickle flags. The protesters were arguing for things like pay raises, lower household bills, and the abolition of transport taxes.

"Putin and Medvedev, along with all deputies and bureaucrats and governors, must be sacked, because they have deprived us of everything, because we cannot afford paying for municipal services," pensioner Nina Kozhukhova told one of the reporters.

Recent local elections have all shown that support for united Russia has declined since the economic crisis.

Correlation:

This article correlates to Comparative Government because it relates to legitimacy, political institutions, as well as citizens, society and the state. The people of Russia obviously seem to be questioning the legitimacy of their government. I think that people protesting the more expensive costs of living shows nostalgia for the Communist era, as many probably miss having government support to cushion their economic problems. This will be an interesting phenomenon to watch, because I think that many people are unsure as to whether or not democracy in Russia will stick. Also interesting in this article is how many people are dissatisfied with United Russia. In pervious presidential elections, United Russia has always won with about 60-70 percent of the vote. If this dissatisfaction continues, power in Russia could very well be transferred to the hands of another party by the next election. This also shows a cleavage between the government and the people, as they are questioning their government't legitimacy. On the other hand, I'm surprised that such a protest didn't end with violent police interference. This shows that Russia is being a lenient towards the public voicing their opinions and a developing civil society. Although protests might not be that 'civil' it is still a group of people gathering together for a common interest!

The U.S. and Russia Battle Mistrust to Finalize Nuclear Arms Agreement

In the recent New York Times article "Twists and Turns on Way to Arms Pact with Russia", published March 26, 2010, Peter Baker reports on the multiple hurdles that the two countries have jumped in order to finally come to an agreement on the long time issue of nuclear arms reduction. Rose Gotemoeller of the United States and Anatoly Antonov of Russia were appointed to head the agreement between the two nations, and although the majority of the agreement was supposed to come from the administration of both states, their respective leaders, Obama and Medvedev, were incredibly focused and involved in the negotiations. At first the two countries simply wanted to extend the original Start I treaty that expired in December, but negotiations proved that they needed to tackle more than just the extension and update of inspections and verifications systems and modest arms reductions. President Obama took a trip to Moscow in July in order to "narrow differences over treaty goals" as American negotiators pushed for a specific numerical limit for arms and Russian negotiators pushed to leave it relatively undefined, eventually compromising by enacting a target range. The Russians also brought up missile defense, wondering how Moscow was expected to cut its arsenal while the U.S. could negate the small nuclear force. Also, the Russians refused an update of the verification system because they viewed it as an agreement made when the country was weak and therefore American inspections were an insult, as well as unnecessary between to friendly countries. In addition to those demands Russia called for a reduction in American missile launchers and refused to the American proposal of required telemetry (the science and technology of automatic measurement and transmission of data by wire, radio, or other means from remote sources, as from space vehicles, to receiving stations for recording and analysis). However, at a meeting concerning climate change in Copenhagen the two leaders met and finally found common ground on all of the above issues, and the Americans left in celebration, but none of the agreement was put down in writing. Later a team of Americans traveled to Moscow and finalized everything, except for the sore subject of missile defense. After one final push in Moscow Russia and the U.S. drafted their statements, but Russia stipulated that it would pull out of the agreement if it deemed American defense missiles to be a threat, and the U.S. clarified that it would continue to build its defense system, but it was not making a target of Russia. The two leaders ended everything with a phone call stating " 'If you want something done right,' Mr. Medvedev began in English, and Mr. Obama finished his thought: 'you do it yourself.'"

This article related to Comparative Government because of the huge foreign relations issue that arose. The agreement increased the legitimacy of both governments, as well as the transparency in the realm of nuclear arms. The breakthrough in foreign policy also serves as a landmark on the road to rebuilding relations between the two major countries.

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Week 7: With Breakdown of Order in Russia’s Dagestan Region, Fear Stalks Police

Summary: The following article, "With Breakdown of Order in Russia’s Dagestan Region, Fear Stalks Police" was written by Ellen Barry and was published on March 20th 2010 in the New York Times. This article is about the recent slayings of police officers in Dagestan, a region in Northern Caucasus. Last year, fifty-eight police officers were,according to the republic’s Interior Ministry, killed while running errands or standing at their posts.Last month alone, according to press reports, 13 officers were killed in bombings and gangland-style shootings.Who were responsible for these killings? The perpetrators were a combination of Islamist militants, alienated young people, ordinary criminals and foot soldiers in private armies. After these people kill the officers they float back into the city, and aren't found by authorities. They are known to Russian authorities as "Persons Unknown."The Police in Dagestan responded to these killings by removing the blue stripe off of police vehicles, requiring officers NOT to wear their uniform, and having an assault rifleman backing up every police officer on duty. The man in the photo above,Mukhtar Mukhtarov, is a retired police officer of 25 years. His son, Gassan, is now a lieutenant. He has received pressure from his family and friends to quit, although refuses too. Gassan has said, “If you had a son, would you let him work as a policeman?” he asked. “I wouldn’t let my own son do it.” These recent set of murders are thought to be the result of a long rocky relationship between Northern Caucasus police officers and the civilians who reside there. Civilians have long thought Police Officers to be brutal and corrupt and prefer to settle disputes between them in an unjust manner. These accusations made by civilians aren't entirely false...there are records of police officers tying suspects down to a chair and beating them whilst interrogating them. This has left behind a residue of rage among the public. Reports of abductions and deaths of civilians are common. They are abducted by a group of masked men who whisk civilians away. As the article reads, "it is hard to say who works for the federal government and who for the police."As Gassan says, “It’s a war,” Gassan said. “It won’t ever end in Dagestan.”

Correlation: This article correlates to what we have been learning in Comparative Government in regards to legitimacy and corruption. Obviously, the Russian relationship between the Police force and the civilians is severely off kilter. There is a sort of 'war' going on between them which is leading to abductions and killings coming from both sides. The police are supposed to be there to protect the civilians. If one can't even trust their own police force/is scared of their own police force, how are they going to feel safe? They won't. This is the result of corruption within Russian Authorities. Secondly, this article correlates with legitimacy. The police are trying to maintain legitimacy by fighting back to the civilians instead of letting them get by free whilst killing police officers. The officers are abducting the civilians in order to try to show who is boss and maintain their legitimacy. Although, the officers don't know who killed who, therefore they are killing random civilians which is a source of the corruption in this system.

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Russia Fumes Over Olympic Teams' Showing

In the wake of Russia's not so ideal performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Medvedev has chosen to lash out at the trainers and the trainers have lashed out at their athletes. Medvedev stated that those to blame for the athletes poor performance must take responsibility. The coaches, trying to sway the blame, have placed the fault on the athletes. “Let’s put up a bunch of guillotines and gallows,” said Vyacheslav Bykov, the team’s coach, responding to a reporter’s suggestion last week that the hockey team might not have seriously prepared. “We have 35 people on the hockey team. Let’s go to Red Square and dispatch with them all.” Medvedev is typically known by his people as a more level headed man, but his frustration is most likely related to the fact that Russia is set to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russia, whose teams have in former years been known to steal the show, only took home three gold medals at the Vancouver games. Russia, on top of their current political and economic problems, now has to channel sizeable funds into the next olympic games, creating a stressful situation for Medvedev, the coaches, the athlets and the people of Russia.

This article says alot about foreign relations in Russia. It is a quite unprofessional for Medvedev and the Russian coaches to behave so rashly at an event that is supposed to bring all the countries of the world together. This is not good for the Russia's reputation with the rest of the world, because I think that other countries would be concerned to interact with a country who responds so ruthlessly when events do not play out in their favor. I think that this would also cause the people of Russia to question their safetly and the government's legitimacy, because the government chose to put so much blame on their people for events that were out of their control.

Russia and France Form a Unique Partnership

On March 1st, 2010 The New York Times published the article "Medvedev Visits France in Bid for Closer Ties" in which Steven Erlanger explains Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's desire to form a special relationship with Europe. Medvedev arrived in France on Monday, March 1st for a three day visit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that was "intended to enhance the prestige of both men, profit their companies, and remind French voters that Mr. Sarkozy's foreign policy is not beholden to Washington." Sarkozy announced that France had opened negotiations with Russia to sell four "Mistral-class amphibious assault ships" against the strong criticisms from the EU and the U.S. Russia's justification comes from their assertations that if such ships were available to them at the time, the invasion of Georgia would have been much faster. Medvedev called the deal "a symbol of trust between our two countries" and Sarkozy explained that "it was time to turn the page on the Cold War" and that the world can not call upon Russia to assert peace, then say that Russia can not be trusted. During the trip the two also praised a deal struck between France's dominant natural gas company, GDF Suez, and the holder of Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom, in which GDF agreed to buy a 9% stake in the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in exchange for 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom.

This article's application comes mainly from the increased foreign relations between France and Russia. France stands as a force in the western world, and its increased interaction with Russia could bring further trust in Russia from other western democracies, or it could alienate France. Russia and France's future actions with each other also hold major implications for the legitimacy of both governments.

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Week 6: Investigator Says Killer of Rights Worker Identified

Summary:The article, "Investigator Says Killer of Rights Worker Identified" was published on February 25th in the New York Times by Ellen Barry. This article closely correlates to the article that I spoke about last week about four civilians being killed in the Chechnya region of Russia. This article is also a human rights violation. Last July, Natalya Estemirova (a human rights worker), was also abducted and murdered in the Chechnya region of Russia. Estemirova was one of the most known and well respected human rights workers in all of Russia. If this is the case, than why did it take the investigative committee of the Southern Federal District prosecutor’s office 7 months to start attempting to find her killer? Simple. Once again Russian authorities are attempting to cover up severe corruption within the Russian's political system. Natalya Estemirova had spent decades documenting kidnappings and killings that she linked to the Chechen president, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, who was appointed by the Kremlin and has used brutal methods to bring separatists under control. Ms. Lokshina, a colleague of Natalya's has suspected that Kadyrov was involved: “There are good grounds to believe that people in high official positions could be involved.” Ms. Lokshina has also said that she and other fellow colleagues have long sensed that investigators know who shot her, but are adamant about identifying the person who ordered the killing. Also, the investigative committee is wary of all evidence due to the fact that "heaps of evidence" at the crime scene were reported destroyed. Currently, nobody has yet to been brought to justice. Most immediately laid blame for Natalya's murder on Mr. Kadyrov. He responded by suing for libel, though this month he withdrew several of those suits.

Correlation: This correlates to what we have learned in comparative government in regards to transparency, legitimacy, and corruption. This article is yet another example of these three concepts directly and inversely related. It seems that Russian Authorities are aware that the Chechen president Ramzan A. Kadyrov is responsible for the killing of Natalya but they continue to dispute it in order to save the government's legitimacy. They aren't being transparent and don't want to expose the truth to the public for fear if they do that the public will stop seeing the government as legitimate. Also, this article correlates strongly to corruption. The fact that a president of a region of Russia is suspected of murdering a civilian is atrocious. The fact that the Russian authorities won't investigate the case deeply nor admit to any faults also signifies corruption within the government. If a country's people can't trust their police force to investigate a case and can't trust their judicial system to press charges how can they possibly feel safe?

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Photo Credit

Russia blames NATO for heroin surge from Afghanistan

In the BBC News article, Russia blames NATO for heroin surge from Afghanistan, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes discusses how Russia has placed the blame on NATO for their country's high drug problem. There are at least 30,000 heroin related deaths in Russia each year, compared to about 2,000 per year in the United States. Victor Ivanov, head of Russia's federal drug control agency stated that these high numbers are due to the Obama administration's decision to end a military drive destroying the opium fields in Afghanistan. The US pulled troops out of this operation because this practice was causing the opium farmers who had lost their jobs to join the Taliban. Ivanov said that this decision has caused a heavy flow of cheap heroin into Russia and Central Asia.


This article relates to several concepts we have discussed in Comparative Government. Russia's decision to blame the Obama administration and NATO for their country's drug problem may cause the people of Russia to question their government's legitimacy. It is impossible, based on the high numbers of heroin addicts and heroin related deaths, that this problems has arisen solely because of the Obama administration's decision to stop destroying Afghanistan's poppy fields. The real cause of this problem is probably due to the government's failure to instate stricter public policies regarding drug laws and stricter control of their borders.


Photo credit: BBC News

Russia Sentences Neo-Nazi Skinheads to Maximum Jail Time

In the BBC article, "Neo-Nazi Skinheads Jailed in Russia for Racist Killings", published on February 25th 2010, Artyom Liss reports on the conviction of a youth gang of "neo-nazis" that have been responsible for a number of brutal murders in recent months. The gang, populated mostly by teenagers, targeted people of Central Asian origin and beat them to death while filming the process on their phones and uploading the videos to the internet. However, these skinheads did not limit themselves to those who were irrefutably Central Asian. One could be eligible just by looking Slavic or speaking with the wrong accent. The gang has titled itself "The White Wolves" and they often accompany their killings with shouts of "Russia for the Russians!". Russian courts sentenced the gang leader to 23 years in prison, and 9 years for the other 8 captured gang members, the maximum legal jail time for juveniles. However, this is just one group. Skinhead gangs have been deemed responsible for over 70 deaths in 2009 alone, but this trial has served as an example and human rights activists have welcomed the sentence.

This story shows the upsurge in race related deaths in Russia as social cleavages deepen. While Russia is predominately Russian, the Soviet Union and its breakup brought many different cultures into the land. A religious cleavage has formed as well while Muslims continue to immigrate into a state that has traditionally followed the Russian Orthodox church. But the courts and government have gained a degree of legitimacy from their crackdown on skinhead killings.

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Week 5: Russia’s Version of Four Deaths Disputed

Summary: The following article, Russia’s Version of Four Deaths Disputed, was published on the 15th of February in the New York Times. Last Monday, a human rights group called Memorial, reported the death of four innocent civilians. This attack occurred in Ingushetia, a region bordered Chechnya. Ingushetia’s leader, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov apologized publicly for the four “unfortunate deaths” and gave their families compensation money. Russian authorities had said that these civilians were killed during the cross-fire of recent operations against Islamic militants in the North Caucasus region of Russia. This is not the case. These four people were found to have multiple gun shot wounds and knife wounds. The Memorial human rights group conducted several interviews with witnesses of this occurrence. The witnesses stated that those four people were abducted, tortured, and killed right in front of the witness's eyes. The Russian authorities had disputed the truth. These people were clearly not the victims of a cross-fire. The Russian authorities also disputed the accusation, made by the EU, that they had seriously violated human rights violations during the two Chechen wars. Lastly, Imram Ezhiev, a Chechen human rights activist and head of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship, said in an interview “Forces kill civilians regularly, but it is rare for authorities to admit to it.”

Correlation: This article correlates to a few concepts learned in comparative government. Firstly, it corresponds inversely to transparency, legitimacy and corruption. Citizens are randomly being killed and the authorities won't admit it. Why is this? They don't want to become transparent and display their faults and weaknesses to the entire country. The authorities fear that admitting their mistakes will decrease the legitimacy of the government. Also, the government is displaying signs of corruption due to the fact that a country's own government is willing to blatantly lie about obvious deaths in order to protect their reputations. Lastly, this article correlates with globalization. The EU has blamed Russia for violating human rights which in turn creates a tense relationship between the EU and Russia. Russia will become less and less wanted in the EU if it continues showing signs of corruption. Due to Russian's dishonest tendencies, it will continue having difficult getting along with it's near abroads and other countries.

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Photo Credit
(The photo is of Southern Chechnya.)

Russia's Olympic Superiority Slips Away

In the New York Times article "Chill Descends Over Russia as Olympic Medals Prove Elusive", published on February 18th, 2010, Michael Schwirtz explains Russia's despair as the country watches the gold medals that were predicted to adorn its athletes, hang around the necks of others. In the first five days Russia accumulated only three medals, as opposed to the nine they amassed at the same time in Torino. One area where they seem to excel? Excuse-making. Russian athletes and coaches have blamed everything from the weather to the facilities to the humidity for their athletic follies. After an accusation of mocking the Aborigines, the Russian ice dancing duo was pressured to alter their performance. Valentin Piseev, president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, then claimed that "they were the target of an international plot to force them to alter their performance." Russia has utilized the Olympic games one of the last arenas in which they can exert their strength, but ever since the fall of the USSR, Russia's athletics have suffered. After the breakup of the Soviet Union many coaches and athletes moved to other countries, or became citizens of the newly independent satellites, leaving the Russian sports machine in disarray. Russia was able to use Soviet trained athletes throughout the 1990s, allowing it to remain as an Olympic superpower, but those who came of age to enter the Olympics after the Soviet collapse are now being termed "the lost generation". Recently, the government as been pumping money into the rebuilding of the athletic sector, but in true Lenin fashion, it has not paid off soon enough. Now officials are calling for the firing of athletic coordinators and Putin has issued a statement "suggesting that there could be repercussions for athletic officials if Russian athletes continue to fall short in Vancouver." “'Anything under fourth place for our team will certainly be a failure, including for those who oversee athletics in our country,'” said Boris Gryzlov, a United Russia leader who is speaker of Parliament."

The Olympic games serve as on of the largest peaceful forums under which dozens of countries come together to compete in athletic events and spectate, making it a huge foreign affairs issue. A country's public image can vastly change based on its performance, and Russia is seeing the last of its superpower image slip away with each gold medal lost. Russia's economic policy has also been altered recently in order to install a bigger and better athletic program to echo the sports program seen under the Soviet Union. Plus, Putin's statement concerning repercussions largely concerns his governmental dominance and the nationalization of the Russian sports industry. If he has the capability to punish athletic coordinators based on their athletes performance in the Olympic games, it calls into question the legitimacy and transparency of the Russian government, and serves as another example of Russia's excuse-making.

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Week 4: Ukraine and Russia Trade Spying Charges

Summary:
The article called "Ukraine and Russia Trade Spying Charges" published in the New York Times by J.Levy Clifford is about a ring of Russian spies who were working together to trade and steal the Ukraine's military and state secrets. Currently, a Russian intelligence officer from the FSB (Russian Intelligence Agency) is being detained by the SBU (Ukrainian Intelligence Agency). The reason for this detainment? This Russian intelligence officer was accused of trying to illegally obtain Ukrainian intelligence by utilizing blackmail and threats. The current Ukrainian president,Viktor A. Yushchenko has been attempting to improve relations between the Ukraine and Moscow, Russia. This issue now serves to hurt the chances of these relations improving in the near future due to Russia and Ukraine's petulant relationship. The Ukrainian government has been exposing Russia's mistake via the media. The President's government has said that they want to make very clear to the Ukrainian people that the Russian Intelligence officers are not trustworthy. Although, the Ukrainian Intelligence officers aren't trustworthy either. Recently, Russian officials arrested an Ukrainian spy who was attempting to steal Russian intelligence. Upon arrest, this spy offered to work in cooperation with the FSB and to provide valuable information about the Ukrainian spying on Russia. The FSB rarely announces current events to the public but is doing so in this situation because they want to defend themselves against Ukraine's spies.

Correlation: This article correlates with a few different aspects of comparative government. The first aspect being that of transparency. Russia is currently informing their public about what is occurring between the FSB and the SBU. The idea of transparency is also closely linked with legitimacy because a government is bound to be found more legitimate if it regularly informs it's people about current events rather than leaving them in the dark and leaving them confused and unaware. It's also connected to globalization because this article deals with two countries who are having conflicts and spying on each other in order to have a gain on each other (rather than attempting to successfully and peacefully work together.) Lastly, this article connects with the aspect of media. These countries are both using media as a tool to defend themselves, show their side of the story, and help explain to the public exactly what happened.

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The Golden Arches Spur Russia's Economy

Andrew E. Kramer of the New York Times published the article "Russia's Evolution, Seen Through Golden Arches" on February 1, 2010. In his article he describes the influence of the McDonald's empire on the Russian food industry. McDonald's initially arrived in Russia twenty years ago, and just recently celebrated its anniversary with a buy-one-get-one-free deal and a traditional accordion band. McDonald's generally buys its food products from private businesses, but when it originally wanted to extend its chain the Soviet Union did not have the businesses to supply the outlets with the nearly 300 ingredients required, spurring McDonald's to build the McComplex just outside of Moscow, as well as invest in imports. But when McDonald's approached Viktor Semenev to buy a few boxes of lettuce for their first restaurant he jumped at the opportunity and he has cornered Russia's industry of packaged fresh vegetables. Now nearly everything, excluding processed frozen french fries, is being bought from local businesses that have sprung up as a result of McDonald's influence, allowing the fast food giant to put the McComplex up for sale. Now as western style supermarkets have moved into Russia these same businesses are able to install their goods in a whole new forum. Within the supermarkets were coolers capable of storing prepackaged salads, and Semenev immediately sprung into action. With his success Semenev has gone to serve Russia politically as he became a member of the Russian Parliament with the ruling United Russia Party. And Russia has now become McDonald's testing grounds, as shown by the development of McCafe's back in 2003. The same concept was introduced in the U.S. just last year. Currently, McDonald's is looking to invest $150 million in Russia including opening 45 new restaurants along with refurbishing the existing sites. "That is good news for the suppliers, too; those outlets will need a lot of shredded lettuce."

McDonald's has been the leader in the globalization of fast food chains, installing outlets in the majority of the world's countries. This has even led to the McDonald's theory; no country containing a McDonald's will go to war with another country containing a McDonald's. Although this correlation does not necessarily have the evidence to support itself, it shows McDonald's dominating influence on the global market. Because McDonald's came to Russia it spurred hundreds of new businesses that employ thousands of Russian citizens. The economic boost that Russia received proved to be substantial, particularly after the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Post #3- Russia Protests Broken Up By Police

Summary:
The following article, "Russia Protests Broken Up By Police", was published by BBC News on February 1st. This article was about a 10,000 person protest last Saturday about the rise of living costs in the Baltic territory of Kaliningrad. The police intervened when protests started shouting anti-government things holding up posters saying "Down with Putin!" and "Shame!" The police were forced to arrest Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and rights activists Oleg Orlov and Lev Ponomarev.The 31st amendment in the Russian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to fight for their rights practically and peacefully. This protest last Saturday was a peaceful one and no violence was used. That is the very reason as to why Jerzy Buzek (The president of the European Parliament) has said that the Russian authorities were too harsh on these peaceful protesters. These protesters protested on the 31st of the month in defense of their right to protest. Why are these protesters resorting to these measures? It's because most of their applications to protest peacefully have been legally rejected therefore leaving them with no other choice.

Correlation: This article correlates with the concept of a democracy and civil rights and liberties. If Russia had a true democracy than the people's civil rights and liberties would be supported by legal authorities and wouldn't be over looked and rejected as they are currently in Russia. Also, this article correlates with the idea of revolution. These protests are an example of Bottom Up change because the people are the one's who would like a reform and are attempting to ask the government to satisfy their needs. Lastly, this correlates with the economic downfall this world is currently experiencing because of the fact that the living costs in Kaliningrad are rising.

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Russia's Regions: Two Different Results Under the Rule of the Kremlin

Published on January 28th, 2010, the Economist's "Russia and its Regions: Beyond the Kremlin's Reach" explains the difference between the current situations in two different areas of Russia. The first, Tatarstan, has remained a peaceful part of the country since its integration in the early 16th century. For the past twenty years the region has been governed by Mintimer Shaimiev, and under his leadership the area survived the dissolution of the USSR and the centralization of the Russian government with few economic or social implications. He recently announced his retirement, the timing of which, not coincidentally, coincides with President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to place Rustam Minnikhanov as the next governor of Tatarstan. By choosing Minnikhanov as the successor, Medvedev was "voicing Mr. Shaimiev's wish as much as his own." In contrast, the region of Dagestan is in turmoil. It has recently experienced a surge of Islamic fundamentalism, which has been accompanied by assassinations, car bombings, murders, and fueds between local clans. So, what makes this region different from Tatarstan? Both are Muslim regions within Russia. But, unlike Tatarstan, Dagestan was colonized in the late 1800s, and due to Russia's emphasis on violence and forced obedience, it was never fully assimilated. After two brutal wars the region finds itself governed by Ramzan Kadyrov, a "kremlin backed strong man with his own small army." Medvedev installed Alexander Khloponin in an effort to gain control of the region, but it is doubtful that he will be able to curb the violence. So, Tatarstan does relatively well with little influence from the Kremlin, but Dagestan's difficulties are increased because of it. "Mr Putin’s centralization of power has made Russia more autocratic but it has not made it better governed."

Russia's issues with the centralization of  power link to the ideas of power, authority, and sovereignty. These three concepts are fueled by a government's legitimacy. In Tatarstan the people trust in their local leaders to lead them on the right course, because the area has remained prosperous due to the decisions of the government. However, in Dagestan the people have no faith in their leaders, and are therefore taking action to change the way things are run. This conflict is also creating tears within the government. Some politicians believe that Russia should grant Dagestan and its surrounding areas (Chechnya and Ingushetia) autonomy, while others wish to keep a firm grasp on the region. Now the government must utilize public policy to best govern this volatile area, while continuing to build up the rest of the vast country.

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Shawna Taets

Rights Group: Russian Religious Freedom in Danger

Summary: The article "Russian Religious Freedom in Danger" published on the 25th by "The Associated Press" in the New York Times explains how Russia is soon to be a country free of religious minorities. Russia's president Dmitri Medvedev wants to make Russia a secular state by permanently assigning Orthodox priests to army units and introducing religious education classes at state schools. There are 100 million Russian Orthodox followers in Russia, although only 5% are strict followers. The independent Moscow-based Liberty of Conscience Institute is worried about the increase in in support for the Russian Orthodox church because the reforms that Medvedev wants to create are against the Russian constitution. Sergei Mozgovoi, co-chair of the institutions board, said that these wanted reforms are aimed at "fostering loyalty to the regime". The Russian constitution does say that there is a separation between church and state, although now-a-days this relationship is said to be "symbiotic." Sergei Buryanov,who is the other co-chair of the institutions board, feels that these new religious reforms will persecute the minorities and take away all chances of religious freedom in Russia. Religious Freedom activists share Buryanov's concerns and are worried by recent moves, such as the banning of any publications by a Jehovah's Witness, against both the Muslims and the Jehovah Witnesses. The instiutue belives Russia will no longer have religious minorities if the government continues implementing strict rules in regards to religious freedom.

Correlation: This article mainly correlates with Civil Rights, the seperation of church and state and social clevages. The freedom to pursue any religion is one of the Civil Rights that us Americans posess. The changes that Medvedev has created makes it hard for someone in Russia to practice the religion of their choice since the government is deciding which religion to teach you about and which religion everyone around you shall have. Secondly, these new rules are killing the social clevages that used to be existent in Russia. The Muslims and Jehovah witnesses are being discriminated against and forced, by law, to stop practicing their religion and start practicing Russian Orthodox. This forces them to rid of their minority identity and leads to no social cleveage and one big minority. Having only one social class brings conflicts to a cease and will make it easier for Russian Officals to maintain power. Lastly, this article correlates to the seperation of church and state. In the US the government can't mandate all public schools to teach a certain religion. The US is built off it's share of minorties and different groups of religions. Russia is loosing it's sense of seperation of church and state due to the fact that the President has decided what religion is to be taught and preached in all public schools.

Photocredit:http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Travel/Pix/gallery/2001/02/05/priest.gif

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Russia Tries to Address Future of Monocities

Summary

This article discusses a situation that is troubling the monocity Baranchinsky, as well as many other monocities throughout the country. A monocity is one city that is dependent on just one energy source, and one industrial factory supports about 90 percent of the cities people in some way. Baranchinsky is coming close to nonexistence as most of the workers at its only factory have received their tiny pay only once in the last 16 months. The businesses don't want to spend the money, the workers don't want to relocate and the government doesn't want to deal with the instability that comes with unemployment. These monocities, described by citizens as "dying settlements" have had trouble since the fall of Communism. The people don't have the money to leave or the skills to work in a bigger city, leaving them almost trapped in these monocities, waiting for life to improve.

Correlation

Russia has overal experienced a boom in economy since the fall of the Soviet Union. True, there were some downfalls as the country switched from a centrally operated economy to a market economy, but in general the growth of the economy, nationally, has been great. Regionally, however, the effects have not been as good. This is one of the problems that came along with Russia's relatively recent democratization. Twelve percent of russia's population currently lives in these monocities, whose function is to fit the demands of a more socialist, centrally oriented economy. Their function is now becoming obsolete and they are more of a burden to the government as they must now try to find an effective way to address the problem, while they try to deal with multiple global issues at the same time. Bad transportation and lack of proper training to find new jobs have left the people in a sort of quarantine. With the globalization of the larger cities, the economies of these monocities have been hit hard. This relates to what we've learned so far in comparative government because it focuses on the burdens experienced by the people of a recently democratized country, and also problems that can arise from having a large income gap throughout a country.

Photo Credit: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/world/europe/05russia.html

Russia to Sign a Nuclear Reduction Treaty with the U.S.

Russia and the U.S. are on the verge of signing a nuclear arms reduction treaty that would greatly reduce the number of nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles, according to the New York Times. The two countries hope to have the agreement signed in time for it to set an example for an international conference in May. This landmark agreement has mended relations between the two largest nuclear arms holders after relations hit a post-cold war low with Russia's war with Georgia in 2008. President Obama and President Medvedev initially laid out plans last year to forge a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start I), but a plan was not concluded by the time the treaty expired on December 5th. Among the remaining details that need to be worked out is the agreement on the exact amount of arms reduction. Currently the two countries plan to reduce nuclear warheads from current levels to 1,500 to 1,675, and delivery vehicles from 500 to 1,100. In order to pass, the agreement must be ratified by law makers in both countries, and other issues remain, such as how to monitor and verify the treaty's terms.

The renewed relations between Russia and the U.S. allow one to see how international relations reflects hugely on a country. Russia has undergone a great change in political culture since the fall of the Soviet Union, and among the top issues in the state is international relations. Plus, the reduction of nuclear arms portrays a desire for peace, a thought that hasn't been on the top of these countries' lists for quite some time. Not to mention that more countries feel safer dealing with Russia economically when it has the U.S. as an ally. The Russian oligarch that owns Rusel aluminum processing is now closer to instituting an I.P.O with Hong Kong. Russian has long been a world superpower, but the country still needs to improve its world status, and the government is finally taking steps to do just that.

Photo Credit: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/01/2009-04-01

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Shawna Taets

Russia Ends Opposition to Rights Court

Summary:
The article "Russia Ends Opposition to Rights Court" by Ellen Barry and published on January 15, 2010 in the New York Times explains how the Russian Parliament is deciding to accept Protocol 14 and establish some common ground with it's fellow European countries. Russia was one of 47 countries who refused to ratify Protocol 14. The reason behind this was because Russia looked askance to the International Human Rights Court due to some accusations it's made about Russia in the past. In the past this Court has received several complaints, mainly from France, which has found Russian officials guilty of corruption, torture, and other misconducts. Part of why these complaints bothered Russia so much is because their judges were not part of the reviewing process of the complaints. Russia has decided to accept Protocol 14 and follow the same rules as the other nations as a way of becoming more connected to their fellow European neighbors. Russia felt that they weren't being heard before and that nobody was listening to their complaints. Now that they have been heard they are more willing to work in partner with the other nations in the Human Rights Court rather than against them. Russia has finally realized that it would benefit them to model after the west rather than hurt it. Russia wants to slowly start taking steps towards becoming a Liberal Democracy. Russia has also realized that they aren't as isolated as they thought and that the world needs them involved in global affairs.



Correlation:
This article relates to what we've learned so far in Comparative Government in numerous ways. Firstly, the legitimacy Russia felt for the Human Rights Court was weak because the Human Rights Court had ignored them in the past and uncovered some of their corrupt politicians therefore Russia doesn't trust the court. Secondly, this article describes how much Globalization impacts the world. The article says, "It is already clear that without Russian participation, the Council of Europe will be of no use to anyone.” This quote emphasizes that all countries are needed to cooperate together in order for an International Organization (such as the Human Rights Court) to exist. Also, even though Russia may be physically isolated or the people may feel like they're isolated from the outside world, they're not. What they choose to do and not to do effects other countries. As inferred in the excerpt from the article. Lastly, Aleksei V. Makarkin, a leading analyst at the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow policy research group, said that these steps Russia is making is a slow advance towards liberalization. This would allude that Russia would be ridding of their communist and socialist values of freedom and stepping towards the equality values of liberals.

Photo Credit: www.russian.arizona.edu/russia.jpg


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