The Novgorod region of Russia displays high levels of economic performance, trust in government, and associational activity -- three common indicators of high levels of social capital. This paper traces the high level of social capital in the region to local government's efforts to promote an...

Russian regions display remarkably different patterns of economic and political development. These differences come into sharp focus when comparing two nearly identical northwestern regions, Novgorod and Pskov. Novgorod's success and Pskov's failure are attributed to the local elite's creative...

This paper looks at Russia's response to the global financial crisis. After a brief introduction to the financial crisis, it examines trends throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the lessons learned by Russian and other regional elites. Finally, it explores whether these...

There is insufficient recognition of the fact that we are actually dealing with two crises that must be addressed simultaneously. The first crisis is the longstanding conflict within Ukraine over whether post-Soviet Ukraine should be a monocultural or bicultural nation. The second crisis, which...

Although human rights have been a concern for US foreign policymakers since the country’s origins, the contrast between the high principles declared in the Declaration of Independence and the country’s actually military and political weakness typically forced American political leaders into...

The cultural and political differences besetting Ukraine are the product of very different patterns of regional settlement. Among these, the settlement of eastern and southern Ukraine stands out, for in these traditionally Russophone regions, political conflict has arisen whenever the legitimacy...