Russian Test #2

Pussy Riot

A Russian feminist protest punk rock group based in Moscow The collective's lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights, and opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom the group considers to be a dictator

Alexei Navalny

A Russian lawyer and political activist. A regular participant in Russian March, since 2009, he has gained prominence in Russia, and in the Russian and international media, as a critic of corruption and of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has organized large-scale demonstrations promoting reform and attacking political corruption, Putin and Putin's political allies; he has run for a political office on the same platform. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal described him as "the man Vladimir Putin fears most" He was barred from running in the most recent election

Anatoly Sobchak

A Russian politician, a co-author of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg, and a mentor and teacher of both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev Died under curious circumstances, official report was a heart attack but it is not clear this was the case

Dmitri Medvedev

A Russian politician, who is currently serving as the Prime Minister of Russia. From 2008 to 2012, Medvedev served as the third President of Russia. Regarded as more liberal than his predecessor and later successor as President (who was also Prime Minister during Medvedev's presidency), Putin, Medvedev's top agenda as President was a wide-ranging modernization program, aiming at modernizing Russia's economy and society, and lessening the country's reliance on oil and gas. During Medvedev's tenure, Russia emerged victorious in the Russo-Georgian War, and recovered from the Great Recession. Medvedev initiated a substantial law enforcement reform and launched an anti-corruption campaign, despite having been accused of corruption himself.

Siloviki

A Russian word for politicians from the security or military services, often the officers of the former KGB, GRU, FSB, SVR, the Federal Drug Control or other security services who came into power Senior "siloviki" under Putin's presidency included Sergei Ivanov, Viktor Ivanov and Sergey Shoygu, who had close working relationships with Putin and held key positions in Putin's governments.

Managed Democracy

A formally democratic government that functions as a de facto autocracy. Such governments are legitimized by elections that are free and fair but lack the ability to change the state's policies, motives, and goals. In other words, the government controls elections so that the people can exercise all their rights without truly changing public policy. While they follow basic democratic principles, there can be major deviations towards authoritarianism. Under managed democracy, the state's continuous use of propaganda techniques prevents the electorate from having a significant impact on policy. It is today widely employed in Russia

Law on Foreign Agents

A law in Russia that requires non-profit organizations that receive foreign donations and engage in "political activity" to register and declare themselves as foreign agents. Once registered, NGOs are subject to additional audits and are obliged to mark all their official statements with a disclosure that it is being given by a "foreign agent." The phrase "foreign agent" in Russian has strong associations with cold war-era espionage, and the law has been criticized both in Russia and internationally as a violation of human rights and as being designed to counter opposition groups

Brezhnev Doctrine

A policy promoted by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. It said that the Soviet Union had the right to use military force to maintain the strict rule of the Communist Party in nearby socialist countries. The Brezhnev Doctrine was used to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 after Alexander Dubček introduced political reforms there. The policy was maintained through 1989.

1999 Apartment Bombings

A series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 and injuring more than 1000 people and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings, together with the Dagestan War, led the country into the Second Chechen War. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's handling of the crisis boosted his popularity and helped him attain presidency within a few months

Second Chechen War

An armed conflict on the territory of Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, also with militants of various Islamist groups, fought from August 1999 to April 2009. On 9 August 1999, Islamist fighters from Chechnya infiltrated Russia's Dagestan region, declaring it an independent state and calling for a jihad until "all unbelievers had been driven out". On 1 October, Russian troops entered Chechnya. The campaign ended the de facto independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and restored Russian federal control over the territory.

2011-12 Protests

Began in 2011 (as protests against the 2011 Russian legislative election results) and continued into 2012 and 2013. The protests were motivated by claims by Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public that the election process was flawed The Central Election Commission of Russia stated that only 11.5% of official reports of fraud could be confirmed as true

Electoral Authoritarianism

Electoral authoritarianism characterizes regimes that present an illusion of multi-party democracy at the local and national levels while effectively stripping elections of efficacy.

Ramzan Kadyrov

Head of the Chechen Republic Former member of the Chechen independence movement Engaged in violent power struggles with Chechen government for overall military and political authority Over the years, he has come under criticism of international organizations for his misogynistic and homophobic approaches

Krysha (roof)

In post-Soviet Russia, law enforcement was too underfunded and poorly trained to protect businesses and enforce contracts. Most businesses had to join a protection racket (known as a krysha, the Russian word for "roof") run by local gangsters

Yevgeny Primakov

Russian politician who served as prime minister of Russia under Yeltsin (1998-1999) Primakov proved to be popular in Russia, and he handled the country's peace efforts in Kosovo. Eight months into Primakov's premiership, however, Yeltsin fired him, claiming that Primakov had failed to map out a concrete economic plan.

Munich speech February 2007 (Putin)

Putin expressed significant points of the future direction of politics in Russia Today, the speech looks quite prophetic Putin criticized what he called the U.S' monopolistic dominance in global relations and its "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations" Putin publicly opposed plans for the U.S missile shield in Europe

"Telephone Justice"

Russian judges are often said to lack independence, issuing rulings based on instructions phoned in from the 'kremlin or powerful people in the regions

Pavel Grudinin

Russian politician and entrepreneur Communist Party's candidate for the 2018 Russian presidential election (Runner-Up) He runs the Lenin State farm which supplies the capital with fruit mostly strawberries

Warsaw Pact

The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states The Warsaw Pact, so named because the treaty was signed in Warsaw, included the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria as members. The treaty called on the member states to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force Remained intact until 1991 The rise of non-communist governments in other eastern bloc nations, such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, throughout 1990 and 1991 marked an effective end of the power of the Warsaw Pact

Ksenia Sobchak

The daughter of the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak The candidate of the Civic Initiative for the 2018 presidential election She was a famous TV personality before getting into politics Ran as the "Against All" candidate in the presidential election Lingering questions about her true motives as it relates to Putin

Andrei Kozyrev

The first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation under President Boris Yeltsin, in office from October 1991 until January 1996. In his position he was credited with developing Russia's foreign policy immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, although many in Russia have criticized him for being weak and not assertive enough in defending Russian interests in the face of the United States and NATO in places like Bosnia and Iraq.

The Power Vertical

The power vertical is a concept introduced by Putin to explain the re-centralisation of the power of the presidency and federal centre. It is defined as 'governing from the top' and leads to a situation where "loyal figures to the state are appointed to important positions to implement policy decisions." This creates a top down governing system where power is held by the elites and wielded in their interests. This is extremely detrimental to democracy, as in a democracy everyone is meant to be politically equal and elect representatives who rule in the interests of the people not in themselves.

FSB (Federal Security Service)

The principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the USSR's Committee of State Security (KGB). Its main responsibilities are within the country and include counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance as well as investigating some other types of grave crimes and federal law violations. Putin was the director of the FSB in 1998, appointed by Yeltsin

United Russia

The ruling political party of the Russian Federation. United Russia is the largest party in Russia and as of 2017 it holds 340 (or 75.56%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma. The United Russia party formed in December 2001 through a merger of the Unity and the Fatherland - All Russia parties. As of 2017, the United Russia party supports the policies of the presidential administration. The party's association with President and former Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (a former leader of the party) has been the key to its success.

Vilnius speech May 2006 (Dick Cheney)

Took a very hard stance against Russia Stated that the Russian Government "unfairly and improperly restricted people's rights" (Specifically as it relates to religion, news media, advocacy groups, and political parties) The remarks came amid an international confrontation over Iran's nuclear programs

Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Yukos)

Was once one of the wealthiest men in Russia Obtained his wealth during the privatization of Russian companies In 2003, he was charged with fraud, Putin froze shares of Yukos (his oil company) Sentenced to nine years in prison in 2005 Many people believe the trials and sentencing were politically motivated He was been described as the "Kremlin's leading critic-in-exile"