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Nicolai N. Petro is professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island. He has served as special assistant for policy in the U.S. State Department, and as civic affairs advisor to the mayor of the Russian city of Novgorod the Great. His books include: The Rebirth of Russian Democracy (Harvard,1995), Russian Foreign Policy (Longman, 1997), and Crafting Democracy (Cornell, 2004).
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Saturday, December 17, 2011 From Arab Spring to Russian Winter?
The December discontent in Russia is a conservative protest vote of the middle class against modernization. The social agenda of the left won, while the competitive agenda of liberals, a group which happens to include Medvedev and United Russia, lost.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Russia Can't Be Manipulated Through External Pressure (1 comments)
The West's posturing in Sergei Magnitsky's case can add nothing of benefit to the investigation, for it needs to proceed without external political pressure if it is to have any lasting impact on the Russian justice system.
Sunday, January 23, 2011 Twice Lost in Translation (1 comments)
Media reports of Russian Orthodox Church leaders calling for a national dress code portray them as out-of-touch, power hungry misogynists. Alas, these reports are based on quotes that have been egregiously mistranslated, or simply invented. The result is a narrative in which Russia and the Orthodox church are both "lost in translation."
Thursday, August 12, 2010 Ukraine Can Have Them and Us (1 comments)
In half the time it took FDR to pass the New Deal, Ukraine's
new president has turned Ukraine's diplomacy 180 degrees. The speed with which Yanukovych has acted has stunned most observers. What options remain for the West? Some hope to fight this rapprochement, while many admit to a sense of resignation. Few see that there is a third option--make Ukraine indispensable to bringing Russia into Europe.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 Why FSB is not the KGB! (1 comments)
Last month amendments were passed to the law codifying the FSB's surveillance of those citizens deemed to be threats to national security. Professor Nicolai N. Petro, unlike some Western commentators, sees these as potentially making Russia's domestic security procedures among the world's most transparent
Sunday, April 25, 2010 Russo-Polish Relations: From Tragedy to Forgiveness (2 comments)
The Katyn massacres have long been a source of friction between Russia and Poland, but the loss of the Polish President's plane has bound the two countries in sorrow. Now their churches are attempting to harvest national reconciliation from tragedy.
Saturday, October 3, 2009 What the Tagliavini Report Fails to Consider
The recently released Tagliavini Commission's report on last year's conflict in Georgia blames Georgia and Russia in equal measure, but fails to consider the Ossetians and Abkhaz.
Thursday, August 13, 2009 Conflict Unfrozen: One Year After the Russo-Georgian War
One year after the Russo-Georgian war, Russia's RIA Novosti News Agency interviews Russian affairs expert and former U.S. State Department policy advisor, Dr. Nicolai N. Petro, about its long term international legal and political ramifications.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Mired in a Yawning Divide
President Barack Obama's approach to Russia is actually very traditional. At its heart is an old formula, that argues that Washington should settle for technical agreements with Moscow, while setting aside philosophical disagreements. To retain its global leadership role, however, the United States must appeal to the values of the BRIC nations. This cannot happen without learning to see Russia as part of European civilization.
Saturday, January 31, 2009 Europe needs Russia and Ukraine together
Western strategies toward Ukraine rest on the false premise that Ukrainians and Russians are antagonistic cultures. Pitting one against each other, however, has only served to undermine Ukrainian nation-building efforts. This rift in Ukrainian society will not be healed until the country's elites acknowledge the populace's deep sympathy and affinity for Russia, and realize that they need to work together.
Thursday, August 21, 2008 "Prisoners of the Caucasus unite" (3 comments)
U.S. and Russian leaders may not see it, but they are in a similar bind. The only way out is for them to work together on a comprehensive settlement for the region. Failure to do so may or may not lead to direct confrontation with Russia, but will surely lead to America getting entangled in the passions of the Caucasus, like the Ottoman, Persian and Russian empires before it.
Thursday, June 12, 2008 Mr. Levy and the Magic Media (1 comments)
It is nice to know that some foreign correspondents in Russia read the local press. That way they can eventually pick up stories that were covered months ago and present them as something novel that they discovered on their own.
Thursday, March 20, 2008 Should Moscow Root for Obama? (2 comments)
When it comes to Russia, the differences among the U.S. presidential candidates are so minimal as to be indistinguishable. The initiative for change, it seems, will have to come from Russia.
Monday, March 10, 2008 Russian Elections – Affirming Democracy or Confirming Autocracy? (1 comments)
The most serious complaint against the Russian election is not with the process, but with the outcome. For many Western observers the Russian people simply made the wrong choice by voting for Medvedev, and that is reason enough to condemn the election.
Friday, February 29, 2008 Seizing the Medvedev Moment (1 comments)
The next Russian president's record shows that in office he will be far from Vladimir Putin's puppet, says Nicolai N Petro.
Friday, January 25, 2008 Letter from Russia
Whatever the future may hold, for now at least, Russians are more optimistic about their country and its future than at any time in the past two decades.
Friday, December 21, 2007 Putin: Sourpuss of the Year? (4 comments)
A lot gets lost in the translation of Putin's earthy humor, but it is clearly wrong to call him humorless. Understanding the humor of others, however, does take a conscious effort--the effort of putting one's self in another person's shoes.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 Understanding Russia's Elections (1 comments)
Far from indicating a retreat from democracy, the Russian electorate's decisive rejection of the current liberal opposition is a good sign that the country is progressing toward a mature democracy. Over time, Russia's political system will evolve in the same direction that the institutions of the French Fifth Republic have evolved since the presidency of François Mitterrand.
Sunday, November 25, 2007 An Orthodox balm for Europe: Orthodox Christians can help rebuild East-West ties.
"In the current expansion eastward, however, it is inevitable that the values and mores of European institutions and alliances will be shaped more and more by the traditionalist views of Orthodox Christian believers and less and less by the modern, secularized Protestant assumptions of Western European democracies."
Monday, September 17, 2007 Russia at the crossroads (3 comments)
As it embraces globalisation and capitalism Russia is also rediscovering a pre-1917 religious and cultural heritage that is often at odds with both communism and capitalism.
Friday, July 27, 2007 Russia and Britain: Condemned to Cooperation? (1 comments)
Both Russia and Britain have much to lose by letting their relations deteriorate, only Britain does not quite seem to realize how much it has at stake.
Friday, June 29, 2007 Surkov's Vision for Russia (1 comments)
Vladislav Surkov, deputy chief of staff to Russian president Vladimir Putin, gave an important speech to Russia's leading intellectuals on June 8, laying out a what he sees as the distinctive characteristics of Russian political culture. His speech, entitled "Russian Political Culture: a View from Utopia," tells us a great deal about the vision that underlies Putin's agenda for Russian democracy.
Sunday, June 24, 2007 Russia's New Cyberwarriors (2 comments)
Russia's new cyberwarriors are putting Western pundits and journalists on notice-your free pass when writing about Russia is coming to an end.
Friday, June 15, 2007 Putin's Proposal: A Deal Too Good to Pass Up (1 comments)
President Putin's proposal to jointly run the early warning radar site at Gabala in Azerbaijan has several advantages for the United States. Indeed, it is a deal too good to pass up.
Saturday, June 2, 2007 Needed: Better Western Coverage of Russia (2 comments)
Recent western media coverage of Russia reveals omissions that call its journalistic objectivity into question.
Thursday, May 31, 2007 Russian Rights and Estonian Wrongs (3 comments)
The very Western institutions that were supposed to help safeguard minority rights in the Baltic States have been complicit in their loss.
