Russia
What next for Putin’s Russia?
By Alan Selby Against a backdrop of growing discontent, and widespread allegations of fraud, Russia’s recent elections heralded Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidency. The man who many still saw as Russia’s de facto leader will now resume his tenure, four years after ostensibly ceding power to Dmitry Medvedev. In light of these developments a […]
FULLY BOOKED Russia: Another six years of Vladimir Putin?
Vladimir Putin is back in presidential office for a third term after four years as Russia’s Prime Minister. We will be asking what the people of Russia think of the man who has dominated the country’s politics for more than 12 years and will now be President for a new extended term of six years?
Tens of thousands of Muscovites have taken part in protests to demand free and fair elections. But how deep and how far does the disaffectedness go? Join us to discuss the outcome of the presidential elections in Russia and what they mean for the future of the people of Russia and its development on the world stage.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 4 – 11 March
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 5 to Sunday, 11 March from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde is back in front of the Landsdomur court in Reykjavik on Monday. Haarde is charged with negligence over the country’s banking collapse in October 2008, though charges that he […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 27 February – 4 March
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 27 February to Sunday, 4 March from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt This week’s roundup includes no fewer than eight elections at all levels of government, beginning with a leadership ballot for Australia’s Labor Party on Monday. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the snap ballot on […]
FULLY BOOKED #FCBBCA: Crisis in Syria – what can be done?
What are the options for the Syrian people and for President Bashar al-Assad and his regime now that China and Russia have vetoed the U.N. Security Council’s resolution calling for foreign intervention? We will be discussing the deadly crackdown and asking what can be done – and by whom?
THIRD PARTY EVENT: Viv Groskop in conversation with Sofi Oksanen, Robert Service and Elif Shafak
"Politics Versus the Personal: Totalitarianism Stamps out Love"
Presented by Borealis Theatre and the Estonian Embassy.
In conjunction with the UK theatre premiere of Purge by Sofi Oksanen at the Arcola Theatre, 22nd February – 24th March, Viv Groskop will lead a dynamic discussion about politics, love and oppression with three influential writers.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 13- 19 February
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 13 February to Sunday, 19 February from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been ordered to appear before the Supreme Court again on Monday, this time to be indicted on charges of contempt of court over what prosecutors say is […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 19- 25 December
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 19 December to Sunday, 25 December fromForesightNews By Nicole Hunt EU and Ukrainian officials meet in Kiev on Monday for the annual EU-Ukraine Summit, with rumours abound that President Viktor Yanukovych is planning to skip the meeting in favour of the EurAsEC summit taking place in […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 12- 18 December
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 12 December to Sunday, 18 December from ForesightNews By Nicole Hunt US President Barack Obama hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki for talks in Washington on Monday, with discussions focusing on strengthening the ‘strategic partnership’ between the two countries. The summit comes ahead of a […]
Russian blogger arrested after post-election protests
Russian blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has been arrested after participating in post-election protests in Moscow against the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The BBC has a good profile of Navalny which explains how his Livejournal blog gained traction for exposing corruption: "The popularity of his blog allowed him to start mobilising internet users to take an active part in […]
Russia: A Mafia State?
Download this episode View in iTunes Watch event here. By Thomas Lowe The panel painted a largely sombre picture of present-day Russia, overshadowed by a resurgent FSB secret service and their close allies, the oligarchs. Author of Mafia State and Guardian correspondent Luke Harding began by explaining what it is like to be considered an […]
FULLY BOOKED Russia – A mafia state?
In 2007 Luke Harding arrived in Moscow to take up a new job as a correspondent for The Guardian. Not long after, mysterious agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, broke into his flat. He was followed, bugged, and even summoned to Lefortovo, the FSB’s notorious prison.
Luke Harding will be joined by a panel at the Frontline Club to discuss his experiences as The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent and what they tell us about Russia today.
Inside Unreported World
By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi Watch the event here. The filmmakers, from Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs series Unreported World, spent two weeks secretly documenting President Bashar al-Assad’s violent crack down on opposition to his regime. Before turning off the camera, reporter Ramita Navai quietly explains that their Syrian fixers plan to hide from the militia […]
What’s coming up at the Frontline Club
Tonight’s event with Nawal El Saadawi, the veteran Egyptian feminist campaigner who yesterday recieved the Women of the Year Outstanding Achievement Award is sold out, but you can watch it online from 7pm. Next week we will be joined by the Guardian’s Luke Harding and the BBC’s Angus Roxburgh to discuss their experiences reporting from Russia and whether the country is a Mafia […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 10 – 16 October
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 10 to Sunday, 16 October from ForesightNews By Nicole Hunt The two men charged with the April 2010 murder of South African white supremacist leader Eugene Terre’Blanche go on trial in Ventersdorp on Monday. Chris Mahlangu and an unnamed teenager are accused of killing the leader […]
The week ahead at the Frontline Club
Don’t forget the September Club Quiz tonight! Next week we will be discussing the aid operation in Somalia and how effective it can be in a country caught between political instability, conflict and violence. For In the Picture this week we will be joined by Norwegian photojournalist Espen Rasmussen who, for his project TRANSIT, travelled to 10 different countries recording the lives of […]
ForesightNews world briefing: UN General Assembly’s General Debate
By Jasper Smith, senior international and security affairs reporter, ForesightNews USA Once a year, the world’s leaders descend on New York for the UN’s blue ribbon event, the cumbersomely-titled UN General Assembly’s General Debate. This year, the build-up has been dominated by the Palestinian Authority’s planned bid to become the 194th member of the UN, […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 12-18 September
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 12 September to Sunday, 18 September from ForesightNews By Nicole Hunt The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meets in Vienna on Monday, with Iran likely to be high on the agenda following last week’s report expressing increased concerns over ‘undisclosed nuclear related activities’ […]
David E. Hoffman: Reagan, Gorbachev and the Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race
By Camilla Groom Watch the event here. With detailed insider knowledge David E Hoffman told the story of how the president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and the US president Ronald Reagan prevented the escalation of the Cold War into a full-blown conflict. As a reporter for the Washington Post Hoffman followed Reagan throughout […]
From the archive: Russia and terrorism
Following yesterday’s terrorist attack in Moscow’s airport, this First Wednesday discussion provides a thorough analysis of Russia and terrorism in the wake of last year’s attacks on the city’s Metro. The panel were: Irina Demchenko, UK bureau chief of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti: Dr Bobo Lo, senior research fellow at the Centre […]
Russia’s secret services: power gone out of control
Download this episode View in iTunes By Sara Elizabeth Williams A dark picture of Russian democracy emerged at the Frontline Club last night as Susan Richards spoke with journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan about power, accountability and Russia’s secret services. Soldatov and Borogan, co-founders of secret service watchdog site Agentura.ru, are the authors of […]
Fully Booked- The New Nobility: Russia’s Secret Services Revealed
The FSB, Russia’s replacement for the KGB, has accumulated powerful backers and increasing authority ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Co-authors of a new book entitled The New Nobility, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, will be at the Frontline Club to discuss Russia’s shadowy security services with Susan Richards of Open Democracy.
Russian war correspondent discovers journalism is more dangerous at home
In this New York Times article we learn of the fate of Mikhail Beketov who dared to investigate corruption in Moscow. Beketov, a former army officer, had reported from both Afghanistan and Chechnya but Russia proved to be more dangerous. As his paper, Khimkinskaya Pravda, wrote about the dealings of local officials and questioned party […]
First Wednesday: Exporting Russia’s radical Islam to the West
By Heather Christie Is Russia’s radical Muslim movement related to the global jihad movement? Or are the targeted attacks executed in Russia fundamentally different from those that take place in the West? That tricky question was debated at April’s First Wednesday event at the Frontline Club, after the recent Moscow metro bombings. If you couldn’t […]
First Wednesday: Is there a common enemy?
By Julie Tomlin We’ve started putting together April’s First Wednesday event: After the bomb blasts in Moscow on 29 March and in Dagestan two days later, we will be talking about Russia and its response to the recent terrorist attacks. We are currently working on inviting guests to speak about that. The focus of the […]
Russian suicide attacks: Where does this leave the War on Terror?
By Ewan Palmer How serious is the threat from terrorism to the modern world? The suicide bombings in Moscow and Dagestan this week altogether killed 51 and, despite the likely localised inspiration for the attacks, fears of more violence elsewhere in Europe have been raised once again. But is there any justification for the current […]
Reporting the Moscow Metro bombings
ПоÑмотреть на ЯндекÑ.Фотках (Link to Tatiana Krasnova’s album) Two female suicide bombers were believed to be responsible for the deaths of 38 commuters in Moscow at rush hour this morning. Russian officials say that 60 people were also injured in the attacks at Lubyanka and Park Kultury Metro stations. There are more details here […]
War reporting fail
A Georgian TV channel caused panic at the weekend after a mock up news report suggested Russian troops had invaded the country and President Saakashvili had been killed. Many viewers had missed a warning that went out before the broadcast. The video below is Russia Today’s report on the biggest (non)-story so far this year:
Summer and something of a seaside independence
Earlier in August I had the opportunity to film in Abkhazia with Matthew Collin – Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Georgia and fellow Frontline blogger. It’s now one year since Russia recognised Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The first time I visited Abkhazia was in December 2006 to produce radio […]
Truth: The first casualty of the Russo-Georgia War
Today, I’ve been multi-tasking: spending some time spying (with permission, I should add) on the BBC’s news operation, keeping one eye on the tennis, and reading a very interesting paper on the media and the Russian invasion of Georgia. I can’t really talk too much about the former (yet) and I don’t suppose many of […]