The 2011–2012 Russian protests first began as a response to the 2011 Russian parliamentary election process, which many Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public considered to be flawed. On 10 December 2011, after a week of small-scale demonstrations, Russia saw some of the biggest protests in Moscow since the 1990s. The focus of the protests has been the ruling party, United Russia, and its leader Vladimir Putin who announced his intention to run again for President in March 2012. Protests continued after Putin’s win. Allegations of voting fraud, illegal campaigning, and obstruction to observers were rife. On 6 May 2012, a rally involving about 20,000 people took place in Moscow the day before Putin's inauguration as President for his third term. The protests turned violent this time as the protesters clashed with the police.
Looking back at a year from the first major outbreaks of civil discontent, what have the protests achieved, what lessons can be learned, and what are the protests’ meanings and implications for the Russian people? These questions will be addressed from varying points of view by our three guest speakers:

'Whither Putinism?'
Dr John Besemeres is an Adjunct Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies. He taught politics at Monash University, and was head of Polish and later Slavonic Studies at Macquarie University and spent five years working as a translator in Belgrade and Warsaw. He has worked in several Australian government portfolios including PM&C, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs and Foreign Affairs. Dr. Besemeres has written prolifically on politics in Russia and Eastern Europe and published Socialist Population Politics (New York 1980).

'The Influence of the Social Media on Attitudes in the 2012 Russian Presidential Election'
Professor Ian McAllister is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the ANU, and from 1997 until 2004 was Director of the Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU.  He has held chairs at various universities and was President of the British Politics Group 2001-2002, has edited the Australian Journal of Political Science since 2004, and was chair of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project from 2003 to 2008. A current research project focuses on Post-communist politics and the problems of democratization. A book length monograph on Russian political opinion,
tentatively titled The Russian Voter, is in preparation.

‘Putin’s Managed Democracy: Coping well under pressure’
Dr Kirill Nourzhanov is a Senior Lecturer at CAIS at the Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU. He teaches courses on Russian, Eurasian and Central Asian politics. His academic interests include politics, international relations and conflict resolution contemporary Central Asia, and he has published widely in these areas.

RSVP: EurasiaAtAnu@gmail.com by Monday 19 November 2012