Institute of Modern Russia


The Institute of Modern Russia is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization—a think tank—headquartered in New York City. It was founded in February 2010, by leading experts in Russia-US relations and human rights. According to the Institute's mission statement, "through its research, advocacy, public events and grant-making, IMR is committed to fostering democratic values, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and the development of civil society in Russia; the promotion of a principles-based U.S.-Russia dialogue; and the integration of a modern and forward-looking Russia into the community of democracies."
The president of IMR is Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of Mikhail Khodorkovsky; the Institute's advisors include Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, Richard Sakwa and Andrei Piontkovsky. Lyudmila Alexeyeva is a Trustee of the Institute.
IMR is a federal tax-exempt Section 501 public charity, incorporated in New Jersey.
The Institute ran a special project called The Interpreter, a daily online journal committed to translating Russian-language media and blogs into English and publishing original features, reports, op-eds and interviews, with the goal of making the Russian-speaking world accessible to Western journalists, analysts, policymakers, diplomats and laymen. In January 2016, the magazine was absorbed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.