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Excerpt from Timothy K. Blauvelt's "Clientelism and Nationality in an Early Soviet Fiefdom: The Trials of Nestor Lakoba," Part I
With a vast territory to control and a small number of trusted cadres in the periphery, in the new “national” republics of the emerging ethno-territorial system, the Bolshevik central leadership...
Excerpt from Timothy K. Blauvelt's "Clientelism and Nationality in an Early Soviet Fiefdom: The Trials of Nestor Lakoba," Part II
The relationship between the central Soviet leadership and the local national elites often resembled that of a grantor with a grantee: before the finalist selection has been made, the grantor...
Timothy Colton delivers the Annual Distinguished Lecture on the consequences of the Ukraine conflict
The 2017 Jordan Center Annual Distinguished Lecture featured the work of Harvard University Professor, Timothy Colton, on "Russia and the Ukraine Crisis".
Putin won reelection. Now he’s a "lame duck." What will that mean?
To nobody’s surprise, Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection to a fourth term on March 18, by a wide margin. With Putin’s (last?) presidential election in the books, I reached...
Navalny’s Back. What Will Putin Do Next?
Shortly before Alexei Navalny's arrival at Vnukovo Airport, riot police dispersed several hundred supporters and arrested dozens before closing the airport altogether and forcing the last-minute diversion of incoming flights....
Russian Studies is Thriving, not Dying
At least in Political Science, Russian studies is alive and well.
Event Recap: The State of US-Russia Relations One Year into the Biden Administration
On November 29th, 2021, the Jordan Center and the Columbia University Harriman Institute hosted experts for a panel on “The State of US-Russia Relations One Year into the Biden Administration.”...
Does Ethnicity Matter? The Case of the Tsarnaev Brothers.
Could we really be so sure that the ethnic and religious background of the Tsarnaev brothers was completely irrelevant? Are we really doing ourselves any favors when, in our desire...
Distorting Russia: How the US Media Misrepresent Sochi, Putin, and Ukraine
American media on Russia today are less objective, less balanced, more conformist and scarcely less ideological than when they covered Soviet Russia during the Cold War.
Dangerous Liaisons: Ukraine and Western Slavists
Writing in the middle of a crisis is always dangerous.
Crimea and the Jewish Problem
When the words “Russia” “Ukraine” and “Jews” appear in the same English-language sentence, I prepare for the worst.
What Immigration Is and Isn't (An Immigrant Story)
English is all around me, with Russian I have to go out of my way to find a living Russian language.
Hacking, Heckling, and Conspiracy: Interview with Julia Ioffe
What you need is something we don’t have yet in the case of the election, and might never have, which is somebody from the inside saying, “Here’s how we did...
Exhibition Review: "Russia — My History" at Moscow's VDNKh
Moscow: at the newly renovated VDNKh (Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy), a multimedia, multi-city mega-exhibition called “Russia – my history” is open to visitors at Pavilion No....
Our Pushkin?
Pushkinists know that today is a holiday. The first graduating class of the Tsarkoe Selo Lyceum annually celebrated the anniversary of their first day of school by gathering, drinking, and...
Open Letter on the Termination of Russian Studies Faculty at Ohio University
Like you, we are wholeheartedly invested in the survival and recovery of higher education in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That recovery depends on the will of universities...
Circle Games (Unstuck in Time)
Voting Putin back into the presidency made the equation between past and future more literal
From Ideology to Culture in Putin’s Russia
Although Putin laments the excesses of communism, he identifies two problems that ideology or otherwise a “national idea,” as a pragmatic tool, could theoretically solve: 1) a lack of moral...
Excerpt from "Sex Work in Contemporary Russia: A Cultural Perspective," Part I
The character of the female sex worker has recurred pervasively across time, space, and genre, repeatedly used by writers, filmmakers, artists, intellectuals, and politicians to explore anxieties about the disruptive...
Panel discusses whether Russia’s managed election hints at change
The four panelists argued that the elections reflect a country undergoing significant changes behind the scenes.