Foreign Policy Series: "The Crisis in Russia" - The Continuing Struggle to Realize Real Democracy, Thurs. Dec. 15


In the recent Russian Parliamentary elections, Vladimir Putin's party suffered significant losses and barely maintained a parliamentary majority, despite widespread claims of massive government-sponsored interference at the polls and during the processing of ballots. Citing electoral fraud and intimidation at polling places, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has called for new elections and many Russians are taking to the streets to protest and challenge the validity of the election outcomes, and the legitimacy of the process itself. In this discussion panel, renowned foreign policy and Russian affairs experts will assess current developments concerning Russia's internal politics, the post-election turmoil, and possible paths forward.

Co-Sponsored by: The George Washington University Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies.

Hon. William Courtney (moderator), the former US Ambassador to both Kazakhstan and Georgia, is an executive with Computer Sciences Corporation and serives as a Board Member of WAC-DC.
Dr. Nadia Diuk is VP, Programs for Europe and Eurasia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Endowment for Democracy, and formerly taught Soviet Politics and Russian History at Oxford University.
Robert Nurick, Senior Director, Atlantic Council. Previously served as Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center; a Senior Political Scientist at RAND; and, as Assistant Director of the International Institute for Stategic Studies in London.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is the Washington bureau chief of RTVi television network, and is a prominent member of the federal council of Solidarnost ("Solidarity"), Russia's democratic opposition movement.

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