Russia: Political Culture, Cleavages, Participation, Beliefs, civil society, economics

1. Russia: Political Culture, Cleavages, Participation, Beliefs, civil society, economics March 7, 2012

4. Welcome or Not, Orthodoxy Is Back in Russia’s Public Schools Father Vladimir Pakhachev says children should “know their history and their roots,” and that religion plays a part in that.

5. KOLOMNA, Russia — One of the most discordant debates in Russian society is playing out in public schools like those in this city not far from Moscow, where the other day a teacher named Irina Donshina set aside her textbooks, strode before her second graders and, as if speaking from a pulpit, posed a simple question: “Whom should we learn to do good from?” “From God!” the children said. “Right!” Ms. Donshina said. “Because people he created crucified him. But did he accuse them or curse them or hate them? Of course not! He continued loving and feeling pity for them, though he could have eliminated all of us and the whole world in a fraction of a second.” Nearly two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the return of religion to public life, localities in Russia are increasingly decreeing that to receive a proper public school education, children should be steeped in the ways of the Russian Orthodox Church, including its traditions, liturgy and historic figures. The lessons are typically introduced at the urging of church leaders, who say the enforced atheism of Communism left Russians out of touch with a faith that was once at the core of their identity. The new curriculum reflects the nation’s continuing struggle to define what it means to be Russian in the post-Communist era and what role religion should play after being brutally suppressed under Soviet rule. Yet the drive by a revitalized church to weave its tenets into the education system has prompted a backlash, and not only from the remains of the Communist Party.

6. Opponents assert that the Russian Orthodox leadership is weakening the constitutional separation of church and state by proselytizing in public schools. They say Russia is a multiethnic, pluralistic nation and risks alienating its large Muslim minority if Russian Orthodoxy takes on the trappings of a state religion. The church calls those accusations unfounded, maintaining that the courses are cultural, not religious. In Ms. Donshina’s class at least, the children seem to have their own understanding of a primary theme of the course. “One has to love God,” said Kristina Posobilova. “We should believe in God only.” The dispute came to a head recently when 10 prominent Russian scientists, including two Nobel laureates, sent a letter to President Vladimir V. Putin, protesting what they termed the “growing clericalization” of Russian society. In addition to criticizing religious teachings in public schools, the scientists attacked church efforts to obtain recognition of degrees in theology, and the presence of Russian Orthodox chaplains in the military. Local officials carry out education policy under Moscow’s oversight, with some latitude. Some regions require the courses in Russian Orthodoxy, while others allow parents to remove their children from them, though they rarely, if ever, do. Other areas have not adopted them.

7. Mr. Putin, though usually not reluctant to overrule local authorities, has skirted the issue. He said in September that he preferred that children learn about religion in general, especially four faiths with longstanding ties to Russia — Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. But the president, who has been photographed wearing a cross and sometimes attends church services and other church events, did not say current practices should be scaled back. “We have to find a form acceptable for the entire society,” he said. “Let’s think about it together.” Polls show that roughly half to two-thirds of Russians consider themselves Russian Orthodox, a sharp increase since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Clergy members frequently take part in government events, and people often wear crosses. But Russia remains deeply secular, and most Russians say they never attend church. About 10 to 15 percent of Russians are Muslim, most of whom live in the south, though Moscow and other major cities have large Muslim populations. With emigration and assimilation, the Jewish population has dwindled to a few hundred thousand people, of 140 million. Muslim and Jewish leaders have generally opposed Russian Orthodoxy courses, though some say schools should be permitted to offer them as extracurricular activities.

8. At Expense of All Others, Putin Picks a Church A FAVORED FAITH Archbishop Ioann, center, the chief Russian Orthodox priest in the Belgorod region, at a service in Stary Oskol last month. The Russian Orthodox church, which was widely persecuted under Communism, has grown in size and influence since the fall of the Soviet Union

9. The Russian Orthodox church also enjoys a close alliance with the government of President Vladimir Putin, who has worn a cross and has spoken publicly about his Orthodox faith. Putin-appointed governors and Russian Orthodox bishops are said to work closely together in many regions

10. Worshipers lined up to kiss an icon of Christ during the Lenten service. Over 70 percent of Russians now identify as Russian Orthodox, according to a recent poll, up from 59 percent in 2003.

11. The Belgorod region, a Russian Orthodox stronghold, has been on the forefront of a substantial anti-Protestant campaign. In 2001, during Mr. Putin's first term, the region enacted its own law to restrict Protestant proselytizing. Can you say ________________ism?

12. The Russian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. In 2006 Mr. Putin said, "In modern Russia, tolerance and tolerance for other beliefs are the foundation for civil peace, and an important factor for social progress." But as the Kremlin officially voices support for religious tolerance, Protestant congregations are regularly referred to as "sects" and must obtain official permission before doing any kind of religious outreach. A group known as the Evangelical Baptists is one of the few Protestant groups with an official place of worship, but they were barred from renting a theater for a Christian music festival and are not allowed to hand out toys at an orphanage.

13. Other groups are forced to meet in small private homes like this one, where a congregation of Seventh-day Adventists now meets, after being evicted from their meeting hall by the police.

14. Protestant congregations in Stary Oskol are required to register their churches with the government in order to do anything more than conduct prayer in private homes.

15. Sergei Matyukh, a Lutheran priest, led a prayer in another home service, this one jointly held by a Lutheran group and a Methodist group. The service is held in support of the Methodist group, which was recently shut down by local officials, after several visits by the F.S.B., the successor to the K.G.B.

16. Pastor Vladimir Pakhomov, the leader of the Methodist congregation, tried to register his church with the local government. His registration was rejected, and he lost his court appeal. He could now face arrest for any religious behavior considered proselytizing. "They have made us into lepers to scare people away," he said.

17. A recently opened Orthodox Russian church on the outskirts of Stary Oskol, another sign of the church's dominance in the region

18. Russian Racism Late last year, polling firm Levada Centre said 53 percent of 1,600 respondents supported the phrase “Russia for the Russians”, while the numbers supporting a limit on immigration were markedly higher than the year beforeA demonstration organized by the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) in November saw around 5,000 marching under banners of “Russia for the Russians” and “Russia, forwards Some political groups have flirted with racism, and the Rodina (Motherland) party was barred from Moscow elections last year for a campaign advertisement that said “let’s clean the city of rubbish” over pictures of immigrants from the Caucasus.

19. Russia has declared that only its citizens can sell vegetables in the markets, disqualifying many immigrants, like this Georgian woman in Moscow April 14 2007 Markets Suffer After Russia Bans Immigrant Vendors Under a government decree that took effect April 1, Mr. Umarov, as a citizen of Uzbekistan, has been banned from working as a vendor at any of Russia’s 5,200 markets, which were a mainstay for groceries and household goods through the 1990s and that still account for a fifth of all retail trade here.

20. Russian xenophobia Russian xenophobia Feb 17th 2005 From The Economist print edition I KNOW, I know. We are your chosen people, Tevye, a beleaguered Jewish milkman of the tsarist era tells God in Fiddler on the Roof. But, once in a while, can't you choose someone else? Russia's old anti-Semitism resurfaced last month when several politicians joined a call for all Jewish groups to be banned. But these days, racism and racists in Russia have mostly chosen to victimise other minorities. In a dark corollary to the nationalist tone of politics, a broader kind of xenophobia is spreading. Last week, two teenage North Korean students were shot and stabbed in St Petersburg—reportedly this was the fourth such attack on foreign students in the city this year. Last year in St Petersburg, a nine-year-old Tajik girl and a Vietnamese student were murdered. At the opposite end of the country, a North Korean was beaten to death in Vladivostok; and in Voronezh, in the heart of European Russia, a student from Guinea-Bissau was killed

22. Political Socialization Nashi,which translates as “ours,” has since its creation two years ago become a disciplined and lavishly funded instrument of Mr. Putin’s campaign for political control before parliamentary elections in December and a presidential election next March. Like Mr. Putin himself, who recently seemed to compare the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich, Nashi also laces its campaigns and literature with an undercurrent of hostility to Europe and the United States. At the rally promoting ethnic harmony, a poster denounced American adoptions: “In 2005, 3,966 Russian children became citizens of America.” Nashi members held photos of a young Russian killed in Estonia

23. Nashi’s opponents, in fact, deride the organization as a modern manifestation of Komsomol, the youth wing of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The colors and symbols are similar; members carry red books to record their participation in rallies and lectures. And, like the Komsomol, membership in Nashi is viewed as a stepping stone to jobs in government and state corporations. More ominously, opponents say, Nashi has conducted paramilitary training in preparation for challenging those who take to the streets to protest the Kremlin. Ilya Yashin, the leader of the youth wing of Yabloko, the liberal political party, said the goal was “direct intimidation of opposition activists,” citing an attack attributed to Nashi supporters against the headquarters of the banned National Bolshevik Party, led by Mr. Limonov. Nashi values: Patriotism counts for more than hard currency

24. http://www.wbur.org/npr/12277079/russian-youth-flock-to-pro-kremlin-summer-camphttp://www.wbur.org/npr/12277079/russian-youth-flock-to-pro-kremlin-summer-camp In one part of the camp called "the Red Light district," posters denouncing Russia's opposition leaders depict the superimposed faces of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and chess champion Garry Kasparov. They've been dubbed "political prostitutes." (Gregory Feifer, NPR/)

25. Dec 4 2007 Members of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth group, celebrated in Moscow Monday after an overwhelming victory by President Vladimir V. Putin’s party, United Russia, in Sunday’s elections. The slogan below the image of Mr. Putin means “our victory.”

26. Several Russian couples celebrating their wedding at a Nashi rally: July 2008

27. Russians With Pumpkins Protest Many U.S. Plots Police officers stood guard on Sunday in front of the United States Embassy in Moscow as thousands of demonstrators from the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi protested against the United States and the war in Georgia. The protesters, in their teens and early 20s, carried jack-o’-lanterns with the names of war victims.

28. Nov 3, 2008 MOSCOW — Thousands of Russians from the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi gathered in front of the United States Embassy here on Sunday night carrying jack-o’-lanterns inked with the names of war victims and charging that the war in Georgia was part of an American plot to improve Senator John McCain’s electoral prospects. As music by Johnny Cash and the Allman Brothers played from loudspeakers, a stream of young people climbed off buses that had carried them to Moscow from far-flung provincial capitals. They held the pumpkins aloft for a moment of silence as a deep bass thumped and carnival-style lights played on the embassy’s facade. In a film projected on several large screens, an actor playing President Bush (though with a heavy Russian accent) delivered a speech in which he gloated over the United States’ control over world affairs. The film asserted that the United States orchestrated World Wars I and II so that the American economy could overtake Europe’s, carried out the Sept. 11 attacks to broaden government powers and planned to brand every person on the planet with the “mark of the beast,” as referred to in the Bible. “When that will happen, we will totally control all humanity,” said the actor playing Mr. Bush, swigging a beer, as a picture of the globe in chains glowed behind him. The opinions in the crowd were far more nuanced. Most of the demonstrators, men and women in their teens and early 20s, said they held the United States responsible for the war in Georgia, sayingPresident Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia would not have attacked the separatist enclave of South Ossetia without express permission from American officials.

29. Several demonstrators said they had become disillusioned with the United States during the 1990s, saying the reforms it pushed had led Russia into financial and political chaos. “We don’t like to be told how to live, and we don’t like it when our peacekeepers are attacked,” said Yura Yakor, 23. “You’re not likely to find any fans of America here.” As they shivered in the wintry rain, nearly everyone had something to say about the coming United States elections. Many agreed with the theory, espoused by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin in a televised interview this fall, that the war in Georgia was planned to increase the chances of Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate. A few said they thought a victory for Senator Barack Obama would greatly improve relations between the United States and Russia. “If McCain wins, I think everything will get worse,” said Yekaterina Anisimova, 20, who had traveled from Vladimir, about 125 miles east of Moscow, for the rally. “He is categorically against Russia. Obama is the opposite. All this could end.” Her friend, Yana Vinogradova, agreed. “We don’t hate America,” she said. “We just have a bad relationship with this administration.” As the American reporter departed, Ms. Anisimova yelled after her, “Vote for Obama!”

30. President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia made several digs at the United States in a speech.

31. More Nationalism: Russians Plant Flag on the Arctic Seabed MOSCOW, Aug. 2 2007 — A Russian expedition descended in a pair of submersible vessels more than two miles under the ice cap on Thursday and deposited a Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole. The dive was a symbolic move to enhance the government’s disputed claim to nearly half of the floor of the Arctic Ocean and potential oil or other resources there. The expedition, covered intensely by Russian news organizations and state-controlled television, mixed high-seas adventure with the long Russian tradition of polar exploration. But it was also an openly choreographed publicity stunt. Inside the first of the mini-submarines to reach the sea floor were two members of Russia’s lower house of Parliament. One of them, Artur N. Chilingarov, led the expedition to seek evidence reinforcing Russia’s claim over the largely uncharted domain. That claim, which has no current legal standing, rests on a Russian assertion that the seabed under the pole, called the Lomonosov Ridge, is an extension of Russia’s continental shelf and thus Russian territory. At least one country with a stake in the issue registered its immediate disapproval of the expedition. “This isn’t the 15th century,” Peter MacKay, Canada’s foreign minister, said on CTV television. “You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say, ‘We’re claiming this territory.’

32. Russian flag stood planted into the seabed below the North Pole last Aug. 2,2007 after a team of scientists and legislators descended below the icecap. Russia claims nearly half the Arctic seabed

33. Crack down on civil society: Kremlin Puts ForeignNGO’s on Notice MOSCOW, Oct. 19 2006— Scores of foreign private organizations were forced to cease their operations in Russia on Thursday while the government considered whether to register them under a new law that has received sharp international criticism. Among the suspended organizations are some of those most critical of the Kremlin, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and others, like the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, that have been accused by Russian officials of instigating or assisting revolutions against other former Soviet republics.

34. Parliament on Wednesday passed a law allowing for prison sentences of as long as three years for “vandalism” motivated by politics or ideology.Once again, vandalism is interpreted broadly, human rights groups say, including acts of civil disobedience. In a test case, Moscow prosecutors are pursuing a criminal case against a political advocate accused of posting critical remarks about a member of Parliament on a Web site, the newspaper Kommersant reported Friday. State television news, meanwhile, typically offers only bland fare of official meetings. Last weekend, the state channels mostly ignored the violent dispersal of opposition protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Rossiya TV, for example, led its newscast last Saturday with Mr. Putin attending a martial arts competition, with the Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme as his guest. On the streets of the capital that day, 54 people were beaten badly enough by the police that they sought medical care, Human Rights Watch said. Rossiya and Channel One are owned by the state, while NTV was taken from a Kremlin critic in 2001 and now belongs to Gazprom. Last week, a St. Petersburg bank with ties to Mr. Putin increased its ownership stake in REN-TV, a channel that sometimes broadcasts critical reports, raising questions about that outlet’s continued independence.

35. There is still protest: Elderly protesters gather under red flags in the Moscow suburb of Khimki on Saturday in a rally against a recently passed law that strips them of Soviet-era benefits. Remember: “While the Kremlin tends to keep a strong grip on Russian politics, it remains sensitive to broad-based protests over issues like inflation, pensions and housing, as well as tobacco and alcohol. “

36. Economic POLICY 1990s: can you say economic __________, which consisted of _________ therapy and ___________? Ougghts: can you say _________ are in jail or gone, GDP has gone ________ and most recently ________ and re-nationalization

38. As Gazprom Goes, So Goes Russia a pipeline to bring natural gas from Siberia to market As the Kremlin tries to regain influence, the energy giant Gazprom is ballooning. In February, a worker in central Russia helped prepare

39. Especially important excerpts: . . . Mr. Medvedev was sworn in as president on Wednesday, after winning the election in early March, and his ascent confirms that in today’s Russia, the line separating big business and the state is becoming so fine that it’s almost nonexistent. Gazprom and the government have long had a close relationship, but the revolving door between them is spinning especially fast this year: Mr. Medvedev, 42, replaces Mr. Putin as president; Mr. Putin becomes prime minister, replacing Viktor A. Zubkov; and Mr. Zubkov is expected to take Mr. Medvedev’s place as Gazprom’s chairman at a general shareholders meeting in June. . . . It’s hard to overemphasize Gazprom’s role in the Russian economy. It’s a sprawling company that raked in $91 billion last year; it employs 432,000 people, pays taxes equal to 20 percent of the Russian budget and has subsidiaries in industries as disparate as farming and aviation. The company is a major supplier of natural gas to Europe, and it is becoming an important source of gas to fast-growing Asian markets like China and South Korea. In 2005, at the urging of the Kremlin, it bought Russia’s fifth-largest oil company from the tycoon Roman A. Abramovich. If crude oil and natural gas are considered together, Gazprom’s combined daily production of energy is greater than that of Saudi Arabia

40. Gazprom says that many of the investments that critics once labeled political, such as the purchase of television stations and newspapers, have in fact turned out highly profitable. Now Russian leaders consider Gazprom the template for a new industrial policy. In a globalized world, their thinking goes, strategic Russian companies should be controlled by the government, yet open to the capital and skill of Western investors — just as Gazprom is. It’s a throwback to the Soviet economic model, with an emphasis on gigantism and economies of scale and faith in the pricing power of monopolies. Under Mr. Putin, oil companies were brought back under the Kremlin’s control, and dozens of state-controlled but publicly listed corporations sprung up in industries like energy, metals, aviation and auto manufacturing. It won’t end there. A former first deputy prime minister, Sergei B. Ivanov, who is also chairman of the state-owned Unified Aircraft Corporation, has proposed forming state corporations for radio electronics, optics and space ventures.

42. PetroKremlin” A vast state-run energy conglomerate has been assembled over the past year, some experts say, to fuel Russia's bid to revive Soviet-style great power status. To date, the Kremlin has effectively renationalized almost a third of the formerly private oil-and-gas sector. Other developments also point to growing state ambitions Apartment buildings near Krasnaya Polyana are part of an elite ski resort being built by Gazprom, the Russian state gas monopoly nYT 4/24/2006

43. Gazprom’s chairman, Dmitri Medvedev (center), now Russia’s president, celebrated the company’s anniversary this year with the C.E.O. Alexei Miller, at his left, and the band Deep Purple A view of Gazprom's Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia. Gazprom is the world's largest natural gas producer and Russia's largest company.

44. Gazprom will have to put a fortune into its Yuzhno-Russkoye field -- some estimate as much as $163 billion by 2015.

45. Russia economy 'to shrink 7.5%' Oil is sharply lower than it was a year ago Russia's economy will shrink by 7.5% in 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev has said - but claimed Kremlin intervention had prevented a worse decline. Russia, which is heavily reliant on oil exports, has been hit by the sharp fall in energy prices. Mr Medvedev said the decline was "very serious" and admitted the government had been surprised at how severely Russia had been hit by the crisis

46. More economic change . . . . A Rosneft oil rig in Siberia. As Russia seeks to raise billions in capital, it is planning to sell a stake in the bank VTB, and may also sell a stake in Rosneft. A few years ago, Vladimir V. Putin, as president, compared the energy riches of Siberia to a piece of candy held tightly by Russia, as if in a “sweaty fist.” However much investors might want it, it was off limits. Yet just last month, Mr. Putin, now prime minister, said Russian officials “understand that we need foreign investment.” . . .. Windfall profits from oil exports, which Russia had salted away before the global recession to cover deficit spending, are about to run out. In fact, that portion of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Reserve Fund, is down to $26 billion — not enough to cover even half of the projected 2011 budget deficit. Thus, for the first time since the financial crisis of 1998, Russia will be compelled this year to turn to international banks and pension funds in the United States and Europe to maintain financing for everything from modernizing the military to paying high public sector wages. January 24, 2011

47. The cost of the financial meltdown: Deficits and spending • GO HERE FOR A MAP http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8214272.stm