Politics, Political Systems & Governance Archives - ICDS

A War of the Final Soviet Generation: Russia’s Demography, Society, and Aggression Against Ukraine

What is the attitude of Russian society towards the war? If it supports the war, why? These questions started swirling immediately after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, at least several major opinion polls have been conducted to find answers. However, many experts doubt the validity of those surveys, since the atmosphere of total censorship, repression, and fear strongly affects the sincerity of respondents.

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Commentary

The Kremlin Is Winning Big

Team Navalny’s new ‘smart voting’ strategy gave a sense of novelty to this year’s Russian Duma elections. But the results have brought everyone sharply back to reality.

Commentary

How Deep Is Russians’ Anti-Western Sentiment?

Polling data shows that Russians are increasingly dissatisfied with the actions of their government. However, judging by many indicators, this discontent is not directly correlated with the growth of pro-Western sentiment in the country. Most Russians still perceive the Western world, and in particular the United States, with some hostility.

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Publications

Democracy, ‘Alternative Reality’ and Estonia’s Resilience

The brief explores reasons why the concerns, grievances and perceptions of all vulnerable societal groups should receive adequate attention if further harm inflicted by fact-free and/or fact-twisting ‘alternative realities’ is to be averted.

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Commentary

USSR 2.0 Is Failing

On 4 October, the people of Kyrgyzstan went to the polls in parliamentary elections. As a result, four parties came to power, three of them directly related to the country’s incumbent government and declaring pro-Russian policies.

Commentary

Putin’s Contracting Matrix

Determined to ensure that in retreat, he imposes the maximum pain on others, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin is making the most of the increasingly unforgiving constraints of his environment.

Commentary

Why Was Alexei Navalnyi Poisoned Now? And Why Was He Handed Over to Germany?

On 20 August, prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalnyi collapsed on board a commercial flight, causing it to make an emergency landing in Omsk. Navalnyi’s condition had changed suddenly and violently during the flight and the aircraft captain’s swift decision probably saved his life. His family, friends and supporters immediately—and with good reason—suspected that he had been poisoned.

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Commentary

The EU Should Be Prepared to Defend the Independence of Belarus

With Belarus rapidly moving towards a post-Lukashenko era, the EU has no credible option but to support Belarusians’ bottom-up demands for democracy. This has geopolitical implications that the EU needs to be prepared to address. Russia is determined to maintain control over Belarus and likely to perceive the EU’s engagement as undesirable if not threatening.

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Commentary

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Belarus?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko may remain in power, but the election and its aftermath leave no doubt that he is ruling by force and fraud. The West will need to adjust its approach to Minsk accordingly.

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Commentary

Will Lukashenko Survive the Fraudulent Presidential Elections?

No one, including the growing internal opposition in Belarus, doubted that the country’s long-lived dictator Alexander Lukashenko would formally win a sixth presidential term in the 9 August 2020 elections. Many people in Belarus want change, but he himself is not ready to go.

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