Between a Missile and a Hard Place

April 29, 2019

Student Name: Drew Spitzer Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 The INF Treaty, or the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, was first brought into place in 1987, signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. This treaty was a significant step in the de-escalation of the...

Persecution against LGBT People in Chechnya

April 29, 2019

Student Name: Elizabeth Mather Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 The end of December 2018 marks a new wave of persecution against LGBT people in Chechnya. This is not the first time this has occurred. An attempt by activists to hold a pride parade in...

The Sami and Russian Arctic Policy

April 29, 2019

Student Name: KD Masar Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 Global warming is changing the face of the Earth, and Russia's location in the North puts it in prime position to control the melting Arctic. The melting of ice and warming of the climate will...

Sex Trafficking After Communism

April 29, 2019

Student Name: Kavya Kannan Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 When the world thinks of the consequences of the Soviet Union collapse in 1991, sex trafficking is certainly not the first to come to mind. The image projected to the world during this time was...

The Threat of Nationalism in Putin’s Russia

April 29, 2019

Student Name: Sergey Gitalov Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 The 2014 events in Crimea and Ukraine are commonly seen in the West as a rise of Russian nationalism. Russians overwhelmingly supported the government despite Western sanctions [1]. However, Putin is not a nationalist, but...

A Disastrous Marriage: A Look into a Theoretical Russia-Belarus Union

April 29, 2019

Student Name: Ben Deitsch Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko’s February announcement that Belarus was “ready to unite” their state with Russia didn’t raise much of a response from the West, perhaps suspecting that the statement was not particularly serious.1 However,...

Economic Inequality in Russia

Student Name: Georgia Borison Course: PSCI 3022 Instructor: Prof. Sarah Sokhey Published: March 15, 2019 One common saying in economics is “a rising tide lifts all boats,” meaning improvements in the general economy will benefit all members participating in that economy. This is the lens through which this policy brief...