Seminar "Faces of Eastern Europe"

Since December’2011 Russia is perceived as different. Particularly in the West Russia’s image transformed over night: from a calm and boring country, it became to be seen as a pre-colour revolution one. Kremlin on its part considered political protests in Moscow and further Russian regional centers as an electoral phenomenon, and expected them to disappear after March’2012 presidential elections. Both views, however opposite, are rather wishful thinking than well-grounded positions. In order to understand what's going on in modern Russia and what is to come, one needs to look beyond Moscow and beyond the last six months.

Nikolaj Petrov is Scholar in Residence (Political Science, Social Geography) at the Carnegie Moscow Center.