Russian Axis

Mission

Commentators within Russia and abroad are increasingly arguing that there is a deficiency of objective information about Russia and little unbiased analysis of Russian affairs available to international audiences. It is generally accepted that most of the Russian broadcast mass media is influenced by the Kremlin and subject to degrees of censorship and thus these sources are not recognised as objective and free of bias. At the same time some of the more vocal ‘independent’ media in Russia is funded by, and appears to represent, the interests of certain business groups and is therefore also perceived as biased.

Western centers for Russian studies and departments of educational institutions experienced significant cuts in funding during the early nineties following the end of the Cold War. Furthermore, international NGOs like the Open Society Institute recently closed their operations in Russia. The combined impact of these trends has resulted in a decline in independent sources of information about Russia.

At the same time there appears to be a demand for an objective overview of Russia amongst the international NGO, business, finance and diplomatic communities. Integration of Russia into the global economy is being broadly discussed. However, it appears that the perceived lack of openness, transparency, and political stability has meant only moderate foreign investment into the Russian economy that many argue appears inadequate against the countries’ resources and potential. There is no doubt that today the broader Western audiences’ view of Russia remains primarily superficial and simplistic. Russian Axis aims to fill this gap and become one of the leading providers of objective analytical information for the international community.