News Sources: Putin Goes from Prez to Prime Minister

Vladimir Putin told delegates at the pro-Kremlin United Russia party's convention that he will serve as prime minister if his longtime aide Dmitri Medvedev is elected to replace him as president next March. Some fear such an arrangement may be fundamentally unstable, as a strong figure in that post may create tensions which have already buffeted Russia in its brief democratic history. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Larry Caldwell - Gamble Professor of Political Science, Occidental College - A former visiting professor at the National War College, scholar-in-residence in the CIA's Office of Soviet Analysis, and RAND consultant, Caldwell is an expert on Russian-American relations, Russian politics and military, and arms control who has testified before Senate and House committees.

Michael Hamm - Boles Professor of History, Centre College - Hamm is the author of books on the history of Ukraine and Russia, and he has been a guest scholar in Russia and a university lecturer in Kazakstan. His work has been honored with Fulbright and IREX fellowships.

George E. Hudson - Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - Hudson is a Fulbright Scholar, an authority on the former Soviet Union and modern Russia and the use of the military as an instrument of foreign policy. An adviser to the Department of Defense and a consultant to the National Security Council, he was a member of the U.S. team which negotiated with Soviets for convential arms reductions in 1979.

News Sources: European-Russian Summit

Facing international pressure over human rights problems and restrictions of free speech in Russia, Russian president, Vladimir Putin has challenged Europeans to set up a new joint human rights institute to improve dialogue. Putin made the proposal at his last scheduled summit meeting with the European Union leaders as Russian president, as part of an attempt to lower the temperature in a range of disputes with Europe. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org

Andrew A. Michta – Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College - Professor Michta's books include America's New Allies: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in NATO and The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe. He has been a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

Nick Hayes - Professor of History, Saint John's University - Hayes holds a doctorate in Russian and European history. He has published widely in the academic press and appeared in popular press, including “ABC Nightline” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” He won an Emmy in 1991 for his work on Russia.

Roy Ginsberg - Director of International Affairs Program, Skidmore College - An expert on international relations and specifically, the European Community, Ginsberg believes the EC represents the model for post-Cold War Western Europe, and possibly Central and Eastern Europe. He is founder and former chair of the European Community Studies Association.