Category: Main
Posted on June 28, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Federal Power
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Federal Power By Dr. Yelena Sorokina, Senior Fellow, Institute for Governance Studies Talk to any political scientist about Russian federalism and youâll often hear a simple story: the Kremlin …
Posted on June 28, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Between the Kremlin and the People
The relationship between Moscow and Russia’s regions has never been a tidy chain of command. It’s a messy, often opaque negotiation, shaped by constitutional asymmetries, informal networks, and the raw political calculus of survival. For the 89 governors …
Posted on June 27, 2026
The Kremlin’s Plot Generator: How the Domestic Policy Directorate Scripts Regional Elections
In September 2023, the gubernatorial election in Omsk region played out with a precision that, to outside observers, looked like a foregone conclusion. The incumbent—a United Russia loyalist the Kremlin had installed two years earlier—took 78 percent of …
Posted on June 24, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Federal Power
The Vertical of Power and Its Discontents Russia’s federal system is often described as a rigid vertical of power, but that tidy image rarely matches the messy reality on the ground. Since the early 2000s, the Kremlin has …
Posted on June 24, 2026
How Russian Governors Navigate the Kremlin’s Tightrope
In the sprawling architecture of the Russian Federation, the relationship between the Kremlin and the regions is often described as a rigid ‘vertical of power.’ But to see it only as a top-down command structure is to miss …
Posted on June 22, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Actually Govern
On paper, Russia’s regional governors look like the chief executives of semi-autonomous territories. In practice, they’re something closer to high-wire performers, balancing federal commands, local demands, and the quiet expectations of the Kremlin’s inner circle. The constitution still …
Posted on June 21, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Federal Power
Russia’s regional governors hold a strange, in-between kind of power. They aren’t independent political bosses, but they’re not just clerks for the Kremlin either. The constitution sketches a federal state with shared responsibilities, yet the real rules of …
Posted on June 21, 2026
The Art of the Possible: How Russian Governors Navigate Federal Power
Russia’s federal architecture is sprawling and lopsided. The relationship between the Kremlin and the regions has never been a tidy vertical of command and compliance. It’s a negotiation—sometimes quiet, sometimes tense—shaped by formal authority, informal influence, and the …