MOSCOW – Last week a number of Russian democratic-leaning online publications posted a Dmitry Medvedev essay titled Forward, Russia! It is an unprecedented and open criticism of Russia’s backward economy, its humiliating raw material orientation, corruption and other woes. Medvedev also offered a critical analysis of the political factors that …
The past week saw a specter of a gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine rising again, reviving fears of dramatic economic and political consequences for both the two nations and Europe at large. These developments were caused by an agreement between the European Union and Kiev designed to overhaul its …