What do the Russian Protesters Want? One Observer’s View of Problems and Needed Reforms

Commentators have compared the recent Russian protests to those of Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street. There are differences, of course, but certain similarities stand out. For one thing, these recent movements differ from, say, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, in that none of them has a clear leader. Instead, they have coalesced around negatives: Egypt without Mubarek, Russian without Putin, America without Wall Street. They all see the existing political system as corrupt, but they are much less specific about what should replace it.

Although these movements may lack leaders, they do not lack thinkers and opinion makers whose writings provide useful insights into what the protesters want. This post looks at the views of one Russian opposition figure, the journalist and writer Yulia Latynina, as expressed in a recent essay titled “Russian Baker, or Ownerocracy.” READ MORE>>>