Summary of the book "Navalny" - By Jan Matti Dollbaum, Morvan Lallouet and Ben Noble

Key Concepts in this book:

1. Alexei Navalny has shaken up the intricate world of Russian politics for the past two decades.
2. Navalny invested his fortune in a massive anti-corruption campaign.
3. Navalny has spent his whole political career trying to destabilize Russia's ruling party.
4. Navalny's movement blossomed into a thriving activist and protest movement.
5. Putin's party works hard to keep opposition figures like Navalny out of power.
6. Navalny is still behind bars, but his political activism will continue.

Who can benefit the most from this book:

• Outsiders seeking to understand life in Russia.
• Political thinkers keen to grasp the concept of power in a post-USSR world.
• All those invested in the future of world governance.

What am I getting out of it? Meet a political opportunist.

Russia has been completely governed by one man for nearly two decades - Vladimir Putin. Despite Putin's iron grasp on power, a new figure has emerged as a potential threat to the country's current political order. Alexei Navalny is his name.

The biography and politics of Navalny, Russia's most renowned political activist and opposition leader are explored in this summary. You'll learn how Navalny got his start in anti-corruption investigations and how he used his rising power to found Russia of the Future, a new political party. You'll also learn how Navalny intends to reshape Russia and how Putin has thwarted his ideas.

• You'll learn what makes LiveJournal a political platform.
• How to interrupt a shareholder meeting.
• And why being a Russian politician is so difficult in this summary.

1. Alexei Navalny has shaken up the intricate world of Russian politics for the past two decades.

The date is Sunday, January 17, 2021. Alexei Navalny is flying back to his homeland of Russia from Berlin's Brandenburg Airport. "Aren't you afraid?" an inquisitive journalist on board inquires.

Naturally, the 44-year-old lawmaker has reason to be concerned. Navalny had fallen deathly ill just months before, in what many believe was a premeditated poisoning carried out at the Kremlin's request. And when he arrives in Moscow, he'll very certainly be imprisoned by Russian authorities.

Despite this, Navalny exudes a calm optimism. He's spent years advocating for political reform in his country, and he has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

The essential lesson here is that Alexei Navalny has shaken up the complicated world of Russian politics for the past two decades.

Alexei Navalny was born in Butyn, a small town in the western suburbs of Moscow, on June 4, 1976. His father was a decorated Soviet Army officer, while his mother was an accountant. Although the Navalny family were not fans of the Soviet regime, Russia was still a part of the Soviet Union when he was a child. Navalny had already identified as a political liberal by the age of 17, and he was optimistic when the Soviet Union split apart in 1991. He hoped that the split would bring in a free-market economic system and a political regime based on democratic ideals. He began studying law and economics at Russia's People's Friendship University in 1993 and went on to have a successful career in banking, stock trading, and real estate development following graduation.

Navalny was affluent and well-connected by the turn of the millennium, and he began to cultivate a public character in politics. Since then, he's portrayed himself as a down-to-earth, no-nonsense family man who straddles the progressive-nationalist divide. While he supports a variety of liberal causes, such as same-sex marriage, he also holds conservative positions on matters such as immigration.

Navalny has been agitating for reform in Russia's notoriously convoluted political arena for the past two decades. He's built a reputation as an idealistic anti-corruption campaigner, and in 2012 he helped create Russia of the Future, a political group that opposes Putin's Russia United. Even still, reducing Navalny's personality and politics to a single story is challenging.

2. Navalny invested his fortune in a massive anti-corruption campaign.

Navalny is generating a stir in April of 2008. He's at Surgetneftegaz, one of Russia's largest and most successful oil businesses, for its annual shareholder meeting. Navalny isn't hesitant to flout the rules, even if the sessions are normally quiet and formal.

Navalny begins grilling Surgetneftegaz CEO Vladimir Bogdanov with questions as soon as he approaches the podium. He's curious about who owns Surgetneftegaz, why such a profitable company pays so little in dividends, and why the company's annual report is so ambiguous and difficult to find.

The audience grumbles and moves uneasily in their chairs during the grilling. Navalny's performance, on the other hand, isn't for them. He'll write about the meeting later on his blog, where he's slowly building a following.

Here's the main point: Navalny invested his fortune in a massive anti-corruption campaign.

Russia's transition to a free-market economy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union was bumpy. Much of the Union's publicly owned assets were transferred to private hands, and a small number of super-wealthy individuals known as oligarchs grew in political power. Under Putin, this dynamic has continued, with business elites frequently collaborating with government officials to profit themselves through bribes, embezzlement, and other methods.

Navalny's anti-corruption advocacy began with so-called shareholder action in 2006. Navalny basically used his money to buy minority stakes in huge corporations like Surgetneftegaz. This ownership allowed him access to insider knowledge as well as the power to inquire about the company's finances. Navalny would then investigate the details and post them on his LiveJournal blog.

In 2010, he won a significant victory. Navalny discovered that Transneft, a large oil corporation, had suddenly lost $4 billion while building the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline using hacked data. A massive government investigation was launched as a result of the claims. While the investigation was finally shelved with no conclusion, it did make elite corruption a major topic of discussion in Russian media.

Navalny quickly shifted his focus to a crusade against corruption. He merged his many activism organizations into the Anti-Corruption Foundation, or FBK, in February 2012. This group generates cash to investigate concerns such as shady government contracts and election fraud. It also creates incredibly successful YouTube films that show how corruption benefits the country's elite while leaving the rest of the population behind. Of course, Navalny's efforts earned him a lot of enemies in high places.

3. Navalny has spent his whole political career trying to destabilize Russia's ruling party.

Navalny had a strong interest in politics from a young age. He devoured political thinkers such as Voltaire as a teenager and eagerly followed the news as politicians such as Boris Yeltsin jockeyed for power in the post-Soviet world. Navalny's political zeal had only risen by the time he was 40. In reality, by 2016, he had resolved to compete for the highest office in his country.

Navalny launched his presidential campaign in late 2016. In a polished YouTube video, he launched his candidacy, speaking about pressing concerns like inequality, taxes, foreign policy, and, of course, corruption. He worked hard over the next year to acquire a foothold in Russia's complicated electoral system. However, the Kremlin disqualified him from the election in 2017, claiming flimsy legal difficulties stemming from a slew of embezzlement allegations.

Despite the stalemate of that campaign, Navalny's political destiny remains a mystery to this day.

The main message is this: Navalny has spent his whole political career trying to topple Russia's ruling party.

Navalny's peculiar political path fits Russia's peculiar political terrain. Navalny warmly welcomed capitalism improvements to the Soviet system as a college student. After that, he joined Yabloko, a minor left-leaning political party, after establishing a business career. While Navalny rose to prominence swiftly inside Yabloko, the party as a whole struggled to establish traction on the national scene.

Navalny, like many Russians at the time, gravitated toward nationalism in the mid-2000s. He quit Yabloko to create NAROD or the Russian National Movement of Liberation. NAROD combined liberal economic ideas with conservative immigration and Russian national identity positions. Navalny is still connected with nationalist ideals, even though this organization eventually disbanded.

Navalny's political career grew in tandem with his anti-corruption efforts. He openly denounced the ruling United Russia party as "a party of criminals and thieves" on his blog and other media sources. He began campaigning for so-called Smart Voting in the 2011 national legislative elections, a method in which individuals intentionally vote for any party that is best positioned to undermine United Russia. When Putin's party triumphed in the end, Navalny went on to organize a series of rallies in Moscow and run for mayor - an election he lost.

Navalny persisted in his activities and reorganized in order to run for president in 2018. Even though Putin's re-election was unlikely due to Russia's opaque electoral system, Navalny anticipated the campaign would undermine the ruling party. Unfortunately, he was pulled out of the race due to a series of embezzlement charges that the European Court of Human Rights called flimsy and politically motivated. Navalny would have to adopt a new identity as a protester in order to continue his work.

4. Navalny's movement blossomed into a thriving activist and protest movement.

Russia is a democracy on paper. The state has open elections on a regular basis, with candidates from a variety of political parties eligible to run. In practice, however, the country falls short of these democratic ideals; regardless of the options on the ballot, the ruling party always wins when it matters.

Those seeking change must look for avenues of influence other than elections, such as public protests, given the suffocating conditions. While demonstrations have their own set of challenges, they do provide opposing viewpoints with a chance to be heard.

As Navalny was forced out of formal politics, he turned to protest as a means of political expression. It's shown to be a wise and effective move in recent years.

This is the most important message: Navalny's movement blossomed into a thriving activist and protest movement.

Navalny was no stranger to demonstrating. Following the 2011 elections, he took part in an unauthorized protest against the results, which gave Putin's United Russia party an unexpectedly strong majority. He and 300 other protesters were detained by police for weeks after that. He promptly joined another demonstration after being released. He spoke out against the Kremlin's undemocratic tactics this time.

Navalny expected opposition when he launched his presidential campaign later. He devised a thorough strategy to keep supporters interested if the campaign failed, working with his trusted political consultant Leonid Volkov. The two built a highly coordinated opposition movement that brought ordinarily apathetic people into the streets across the country, using a combination of social media boosterism and big public protests in more than 90 locations.

Navalny's deliberate outreach to regions and localities all over Russia was one of the reasons for the movement's success. Wherever possible, the campaign invested resources in creating offices and made efforts to link with local organizers and activist groups already active in each area. When the government tried to stifle the movement by withholding protest permits, these seasoned organizers could assist in setting up rallies and meetings in private spaces.

Navalny's activist base reached out to people who were not often associated with progressive groups, such as the wealthy and educated youth. Workers, retirees, and other marginalized groups were actively engaged. When Navalny was finally apprehended by police in 2021, his followers were ready: thousands marched through the streets to protest his detention.

5. Putin's party works hard to keep opposition figures like Navalny out of power.

Winter in Russia is exceptionally harsh, with the sun setting early and temperatures in most large cities hovering around or below freezing. Regardless of the freezing temperatures, approximately 200,000 people took to the streets in January and February 2021. They were protesting Navalny's incarceration.

Navalny was inexplicably poisoned in Berlin in the year 2020. Following his recovery in Germany, the politician and activist returned to Russia, where he was jailed for violating the terms of his parole, which stemmed from prior embezzlement allegations. His numerous fans were understandably enraged.

Was Putin, on the other hand, rattled by this outpouring of support? It's a mystery. Despite the fact that the president's press secretary claimed that Navalny poses a threat to the system, the Kremlin seemed intent on suppressing his movement.

The main point here is that Putin's party is deliberately working to keep opposition figures like Navalny out of power.

Putin and his United Russia party have had near-total control of the Russian government since the 2011 elections. Their firm grip on power, however, masks a continual fight beneath the surface. Rather than resting on its laurels, the ruling party is working hard to maintain its grip on the state, the media, and public opinion. Navalny's demise is part of a bigger political scheme.

United Russia can maintain its strength by honouring its leader, Vladimir Putin. The party holds pro-Putin demonstrations and news conferences in schools, workplaces, and other public areas on a regular basis. These activities are intended to portray the president as a strong, compassionate leader who protects the Russian people against Western European encroachment. Maintaining this image makes everyone who disagrees, including Navalny, appear unpatriotic and suspicious.

Putin's administration also goes to considerable pains to prevent adverse material from reaching the media or investigators. The government established a new regulation in July 2017 that permitted state agencies to classify data on any top-level government person selectively. The legislation was designed to make it difficult for anti-corruption investigators like Navalny's FBK to do their jobs. The government has also made measures to closely monitor and trace internet traffic, allowing it to spot and counter anti-Putin narratives as they form.

Finally, the Kremlin has turned its sights on the democratic system as a whole. While elections are still held in the country, participation is becoming increasingly difficult. For example, when Navalny and friends attempted to run for Moscow City Council in 2019, the administration blocked all of their candidates from standing on the ballot. With official elections off the table, those who are dissatisfied have little choice except to engage in increasingly disruptive behaviour.

6. Navalny is still behind bars, but his political activism will continue.

2nd of February, 2021 Navalny is in court once more. He is charged with violating the terms of his parole after being apprehended at Moscow's airport — he was supposed to check in with parole authorities twice a month but failed to do so when hospitalized in Berlin after being poisoned.

These fabricated charges, of course, aren't the true reason Navalny is in danger. He is being punished, according to his admirers, for defying Putin's regime and for having the bravery to survive an assassination attempt.

The charges are upheld in each case, and Navalny is sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. He is still at a corrective work colony in Pokrov, Vladimir Region, as of September 2021. His future and legacy are still up in the air.

The crucial message is that while Navalny is still in prison, his political movement will continue.

Navalny's incarceration has not been easy. He's received several reprimands for minor infractions, such as being chastised for wearing a T-shirt to meet with his lawyer and being reprimanded for addressing a guard too carelessly. He's also been classified as an "escape risk," which means guards can wake him up every hour of the night. Navalny, ever the activist, began a hunger strike in March but abandoned it in late April without achieving any results.

The Russian authorities are aiming to undermine Navalny's whole political structure outside of prison. Following his sentencing, police detained all of FBK's top officers, as well as the heads of all of Navalny's regional offices. As if that weren't enough, the state labelled FBK an "extremist organization" in April 2021. Donating to the group is now unlawful, and FBK employees face jail time as a result of this categorization.

So, what is the status of Navalny's legacy? In some ways, his achievements are modest – his finest political performance was a second-place result in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. Even though more than 75% of Russians know his name, polls show that just roughly 19% strongly support his activities.

Navalny's true successes, on the other hand, maybe more subtle. His long career as an anti-corruption activist, lawmaker, and protest leader has drawn attention to Russia's systemic problems as well as its authoritarian policies. And his support for Smart Voting could jeopardize Russia United's electoral power. Navalny's greatest triumph, though, is symbolic: via his activity, he has encouraged a whole new generation of Russians to seek power. They may be able to guide Russia to a better destiny in the near future.

The most important message in this summary is that Alexei Navalny is Russia's most well-known political dissident. He dedicated himself to anti-corruption advocacy after a successful corporate career. His political passions eventually led him to lead a statewide campaign to destabilize Putin's ruling Russia United party. An assassination attempt and imprisonment on spurious charges limited his political career in 2020, but the people he inspired may possibly continue his effort to reform Russia.