Rights, Freedoms, and Civil Society

When a country has been led by one person for almost a quarter of a century, as is the case with Russia in 2024, it is perhaps no surprise that its ruling regime has increasingly been able and willing to suppress alternative voices and to limit the rights and freedoms of those who would oppose that regime. In almost all political settings, longevity of power facilitates corruptioncorruption and abuse of position as the ruling regime becomes the only game in town, co-opting into its service the key components of the judiciaryjudiciary, media, financial, and business sectors.