Nicolai N. Petro's views on political developments in Russia

This is a selected collection of resources by Nicolai N. Petro, Professor of Politics at the University of Rhode Island, dealing with political developments in Russia and controversial issues of the recent history of this country.


In this article appeared on the Web site “Russia Beyond the Headlines”, Prof. Petro discuss how Russian authorities have been handling the Magnitsky case and how external players have tried to influence it.

Written by Nicolai N. Petro and Oleksandr V. Kovriga, the following article appeared on the Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, Vol. 12, No. 2, Summer/Fall 2011.
This paper analyzes Russia’s response to the global financial crisis begun in 2008. After a brief introduction to the financial crisis and its impact on Western economic systems, it examines trends throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and how Russia faced the crisis. It also emphasizes the lessons learned by Russian and regional elites. The conclusive section of the paper explores whether these states will be successful in adapting to emerging global trends, and whether they will do so in concert or individually.

The following resource is a video of the TV show CrossTalk, aired on January 4, 2012. Prof. Petro and other discussants review the events related to the August coup of 1991 and examine its consequences.

Prof. Petro analyzes the recent protests in Russia in an article appeared on the Web site “Open Democracy” on December 29, 2011.
According to Petro, the Putin regime has little to fear from the latest public protests. Despite the large participation to the rallies, their main weakness is that they are apolitical. Putin’s regime needs to be challenged on the political ground.