In the words of a great writer, admirable actions may be another sign “that God has not given up on humanity”.

The new head of Russia’s Central Election Commission announced the formation of a task force comprising several branches of the security services to prevent election rigging. Just whom they will actually be fighting remains an open question.

Another week, another reshuffling of the deck: Having already coopted his sources of financial support, Vladimir Putin starts to cull Medvedev’s siloviki support network, just to make sure his likely successor is as weak as possible.

Putin defended his import ban on European foods as necessary for “protecting national interests”. Now, even as he struggles to loosen Western sanctions, he is introducing wider and wider loopholes in his retaliatory measure.

No matter what your faith or lack of it, the study of religion is an intellectually fascinating project. Take the hybrids, for example…

China is ready to invest in a major Russian oil firm—but only if one significant pre-condition is met.

Is the Russian President an opportunist or a master strategist? And what is his game plan for Ukraine?

Austria’s presidential elections last week should be a wake-up call to centrist European parties. Did they get the message?

Power struggles and shakedowns among Russia’s security services help explain why and how Putin has decided to shuffle the deck.

Russian media unwittingly blows up a misreported story about Putin being the first to sit in a throne heretofore reserved for Byzantine emperors.