- 10:40 06/05/2011
Dmitry Medvedev’s three years as president should be assessed within the framework of the distributive function regarding both internal and external political issues. This tangibly increased room for maneuver within the “tandemocracy” even though the current president’s political portrait acquired increasingly distinct features.
- 10:32 06/05/2011
On May 7, 2008, Dmitry Medvedev took an oath as the third President of the Russian Federation. Despite recent apparent disagreements on certain issues between Medvedev and Russia’s prime minister and some verbal skirmishes between the two, the political course previously set by Vladimir Putin remains substantially unaltered.
- 09:03 06/05/2011
The Libyan conflict is part of Washington's long-term strategy. In the last 10 years, the United States has been playing against the European Union. This is in part because, after the introduction of the euro, the EU claimed its status as a major financial center.
- 09:54 04/05/2011
The recent instability in the Middle East is likely to have a negative impact on the country’s arms sales, because in the past decade this region has been one of the most significant recipients of weapons “Made in Russia.”
- 10:35 29/04/2011
The replacement of senior Bank of Moscow executives was fairly predictable after the high-profile sacking of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. That’s the way “oligarchic capitalism” works; key companies were bound to have their executives replaced, at the very least.
- 15:33 27/04/2011
Theories on the future of the Russian parliament – as well as assessments of its past – have become inextricably linked with current debates on the ways in which the domestic political system should be developed as a whole and the concepts and modalities of our future statehood in terms of the sovereignty of the people.
- 10:47 26/04/2011
Collective research Russia: The Challenges of Transformation, edited by Piotr Dutkiewicz, Professor of Political Science at Carleton University and the Valdai Club member and Dmitry Trenin, Director of the Moscow Carnegie Center is to be released this April.
- 10:35 25/04/2011
Russia’s economy is plagued by three major problems: its poor investment climate, which includes ineffective institutions; weak competition; and the government’s excessive role in economic regulation. Unless these problems are resolved soon, we won’t be able to support even the current 4% growth, let alone modernize the economy.
- 08:43 22/04/2011
All of Russia’s borders are unsettled today – in Northeast Asia, Central/South Asia, Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Arctic. This is hardly surprising. Unsettled borders have been a constant throughout Russian history, which could be written as a long struggle for stable, defensible borders, with the Russian state steadily pushing outward from its core in all directions until it met countervailing forces.
- 08:30 22/04/2011
“Russia is less concerned and attaches less significance to Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union than it does to Ukraine’s not joining the Deep [and Comprehensive] Free Trade Area with the EU. If it sees it as a real prospect, I think it will use economic pressure, and pressure with regard to energy supplies. I do not believe that we can exclude the possibility of a future energy crisis between Ukraine and Russia.”
- 09:15 19/04/2011
After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, Poland saw itself as being the leading state in East-Central Europe. The objective clash of interests between Warsaw and Russia has its roots in that perception. First, Poland is interested in seeing a strengthened U.S. presence in Eastern Europe and NATO mechanisms. Poland’s political elite feel they need a powerful ally to counterbalance Russia and Germany.
- 09:55 18/04/2011
According to one likely scenario for the period up to 2035, European economies will continue to experience moderate growth. Because energy intensity will decrease, overall energy demand will more or less stagnate. But gas demand will grow because gas will come to substitute coal and nuclear energy in electricity production. By 2035, European gas demand is likely to have increased by about 100 bcm.
- 09:47 18/04/2011
The striking tone of a report titled “Human Rights & Democracy: The 2010 FCO Report.” Josef Stalin wrote in much the same tone, albeit in Russian – the same rigid and dogmatic pronouncements, with the same lack of “unnecessary” evidence, the same eagerness to educate the people, and the same conviction that all opposing views are wrong.
- 11:05 15/04/2011
The shocks that have lately rocked the Middle East surprised Russia, along with many other international actors, and the new reality, marked by general instability and uncertainty, has left it at a loss for action. However, Russia’s strong desire to maintain its status in the Middle East has driven it to seek political alternatives that will enable it to play a role in shaping the future of the region.
- 09:33 15/04/2011
While the health of the American, Chinese, German and Japanese economies remain essential, the Asia Crisis and recent concerns in countries such as Greece and Portugal have shown that storms can stir in smaller ponds and then take on systemic proportions. To reform the G20 to conform to a constituency system, therefore, makes sense. In this context, Russia can make important contributions by acting as an informed representative for the economies in its Near Abroad.
- 14:05 14/04/2011
The current internal political situation in Belarus is unusual. It was not that long ago that President Lukashenko was re-elected in elections seen as unfair by the international community. Unlike other leaders in a similar position, Laurent Gbagbo for instance in Ivory Coast, Lukashenko has been much more successful: he has managed to remain in office, there has been no intervention.
- 08:41 14/04/2011
Despite their improved relationship, China and Russia have not formed a mutual defensive alliance and still tend to pursue distinct, if largely parallel, policies regarding many issues. Personal and economic exchanges between China and Russia remain minimal compared to those found between most large countries in Europe and North America.
- 08:30 14/04/2011
There is a gap between the Russian economic potential and the Russian economic performance. Foreign investment in the real economy in Russia will come only if Russians begin investing in their own country. What we see now is outflow, not only of investment from Russia but we see it also in Russian investors, who are investing in Europe, in the United States, in Canada, in China, but investing less and less in Russia.
- 10:05 13/04/2011
BRICS leaders are set to meet on beautiful Hainan Island in China to plan for their future development. This important event will contribute to the recent progress made in international politics and the global economy. A new international structure is emerging and taking the place of the past Western-centric one.
