Generation Putin: Values, orientations and political participation
In spring 2017, many young Russians took to the streets of major cities like Moscow and St Petersburg in protest against the authorities. Since then, the generation that has grown up after the fall of the Soviet Union has captured the imagination of the general public, within the country and abroad. Researchers and journalists have been drawn to ‘Generation Putin,’ the generation that has grown up and come of age during Putin’s rule and now is gaining the right to vote and entering the political landscape. The Levada Center, an independent research organization based in Moscow, has conducted quantitative and qualitative sociological studies aimed at finding whether and how young Russians differ from the other generations. This paper presents the most significant differences according to data available from regular surveys and focus-group materials produced by the Levada Center.
Viljar Haavik
Viljar Haavik is a Research Fellow at NUPI's Research Group on Peace, Conflict and Development, as part of the research project Strengthening Frag...
Religious authority and the 2018 parliamentary elections in Iraq
This research brief analyzes the discursive production of, and political struggle over, religious authority in Shia Iraq. It examines Friday sermons held in the run-up to the May 2018 parliamentary elections.
‘Practice time!’ Doxic futures in security and defence diplomacy after Brexit
Time constitutes social life and time management is central to the everyday conduct of international politics. For some reason, however, the practice turn in International Relations (IR) has produced knowledge about how past practices constitute international politics but not about how the future is also a constitutive feature in and on social life. Introducing a novel perspective on practice and temporality, the article argues that intersubjectively situated representations of the future by practitioners in international politics contribute substantially to our understanding of political processes and the making of international politics. To develop what appears a contradiction in terms – that ‘future-practices’ are driven by tacit know-how and conscious reflection simultaneously – the article develops the concept of doxic futures: representations of the future rooted in practical knowledge and tacit assumptions about the self-evident nature of the social world. The argument is illustrated with a case study of European security and defence diplomacy after the UK voted to leave the EU. Through the envisioning of two concrete doxic futures, a ‘Europe of buying together’ and the UK as a third country in EU defence, diplomats effectively tried to save European security and defence cooperation from the potentially disintegrating effects of Brexit.
Do peace operations work? And can they protect civilians?
These were some of the questions raised when researchers from the NUPI-led Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON) shared their insights in Washington, D.C. and New York.
What does China really want in the Middle East?
In a recent article, NUPI research fellow Henrik S. Hiim and Stig Stenslie aim to find an answer.
PM Abiy deserves the Nobel Prize, but can he keep the peace?
OP-ED: A process of change has been initiated in Ethiopia and the region, but it is under severe threat.
Has the West forgotten about Chechnya?
PODCAST: Ramzan Kadyrov’s reign in Chechnya has cast a wave of fear and oppression across this Russian republic. What does that mean for the people living there, and for those who have fled the region in fear? And why don’t we talk more about this in the West?
The identity politics driving the Japan–South Korea trade war
Why and how are identity politics a key driver in the Japan-South Korea trade war?
Is Skype a telecommunications company - and why does it matter?
Telecommunications constitute the core of the digital economy. EU regulation of the sector aims at promoting connectivity and access to very high capacity networks. To that end, and to keep up with technical developments, the regulatory framework is revised from time to time with a view to roll back regulation as competitive markets take hold. Whether or not an activity falls under the regulatory framework for telecommunications, which is the main category under electronic communications services, makes a huge difference as the recent ECJ decision on Skype illustrates.