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Putin Grows More Isolated In Third Term 
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In early October, the employees of Russia's largest ammonia manufacturer, TogliattiAzot, staged a demonstration against the members of Pussy Riot, who...
Pussy Riot is the most recent martyr in an extensive history of Russian dissenters. We have created a piece in honor of Pussy Riot -- using satire and pop culture to manufacture the world of Pussy Riot Vodka.
In all the talk about escalating the effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad that has emerged following the re-election of President Barack Obama, there seems to be a notable void when it comes to considering what the Russian reaction might be.
Director Victor Ginzburg brings a deadpan, Strangelovian ambiance to his adaptation of Victor Pelevin's cult novel, and the result is a film that irresistibly draws you into its increasingly delirious world.
Putin is a victim of his own economic success. Prosperity and stability in the past decade helped create the new urban middle class, which now wants political change to match its economic achievements.
Any action plan for reforming Russia should include a full blown educational reform that would reshape the priorities of the teachers, and hence improve the outcome on the student side.
By now, it seems that everyone has heard of the Russian female punk collective Pussy Riot. Yet the band's prosecution is but an episode in Russia's ongoing misuse of antiextremism laws directed against dissenting voices.
It is becoming clear that Israel and Russia may have enough in common to further develop their relations and create a stable friendship based on a variety of interests.
The singular attention being paid to Pussy Riot, which was front-page news when the group's two-year sentence was handed down in late August, is unique. In a world where human rights causes compete for attention, Pussy Riot managed to break through.
As Russia continues to be controlled in a militaristic rather than a democratic fashion, expect free speech to suffer, and those who advocate it to face punishment.
U.S. interests are best served by pushing for reform and building ties with the political opposition and civil society, including possible future leaders. These ties can lay the groundwork for continued influence and facilitate smooth transitions to democracy.
Since Vladimir V. Putin's return to the Kremlin, the Russian parliament has rammed through a raft of laws tightening the screws on civil society, the government kicked out USAID, and opposition demonstrators are facing unwarranted criminal charges.
What are you doing for Pussy Riot? No cause is unworthy of exploitation. As Americans, we will instinctively empathize, analyze then produce an effort to right the wrong. Justice is served and the problem solved as long as you can throw enough money at it.
Mr. Putin's government would like to avoid discussions about human rights and the rule of law -- yet widespread corruption, election fraud, sham trials, and crackdown on dissent shape Russia's image abroad.
There is a danger that the image of Russia's institutions as being frozen in an archaic and despotic past could obscure the reality of a changing society that is much more diverse than we imagine.
This last week, Russia has been in the headlines and in particular Vladivostok, where the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is occurring.
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