Letter From the Editors
To the Brink: From the Return of Checkpoint Charlie, to the Point of No Return in Russian-US Relations
FEATURED NEWS STORIES
New US President, New US-Russian Relations?
Nuclear Disarmament at Stake in Russia-West Tiff
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Politics
Toying With a Thaw
Recent Conciliatory Remarks by Putin, Other Russian Officials Do Not Portend Real ‘Thaw’
The Economy
Do Me an $11. 2 Billion Favor
State Pressuring Lukoil to Buy Rosneft Stake Because It Couldn’t Find Other Buyers
Butchering the Budget
2017 Draft Budget Divides State Agencies Into Haves and Have-Nots
Penal System
Letter From Hell
Detained Human Rights Activist Describes Harrowing Prison Ordeal
How the State Hijacked Russia’s Only Independent Prison Watchdog
The Only Independent Prison Watchdog All but Eliminated
Culture
State and the Arts
Konstantin Raikin Laments Return of Censorship
OTHER POST-SOVIET STATES
Ukraine
Ukrainians Shocked by Officials’ Declarations
Officials’ Publicly Declared Assets Reveal Unprecedented Wealth
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Foreign Economic Relations
The Abduction of Europe
New EU-Canada Trade Pact Shows Europe Caught in Atlantic-Pacific Standoff
Europe
EU Doesn’t Want to Depend on Ukraine, Even if It’s Now ‘Pro-European’
EU’s Efforts to Interconnect Gas Pipelines Are Sign of Distrust Toward Ukraine
Montenegro
How Russia Did Not Carry Out a Coup in the Balkans
Domestic Discord in Montenegro Belies Theory That Russia Tried to Stage Coup