... attempts to remedy the fundamental problems underlying Soviet-type regimes.
It was a typical tragic situation. What Stalin had done to the Soviet Union and its allied states could not be repaired without the kinds of severe bumps and crises that Russia and the other former Soviet republics have been experiencing since the Soviet collapse. The collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet-type regimes resulted in severe problems, some of which might well be called disastrous. Nevertheless, the fall ...
- Опубликовано:
- 10.03.2016 22:28:00
The U.S.-Russia agreement on the Syria ceasefire was in the spotlight of global media and think tanks last week. Likewise, Russia Direct has been extensively covering this deal and its implications for the world and the Middle East. With a great deal of uncertainty ...
- Опубликовано:
- 01.03.2016 17:12:00
... emerging leader and architecture. Considering historical path-dependency and shared political traditions, it is not a surprise that Moscow is already a center of the Eurasian integration process. Still, many argue that the EEU is merely a manifestation of Russia as a great power returned to the international arena rather than an attempt for regional stabilization through the means of economic cooperation. Nevertheless, only forecasts may be discussed at the current stage of the EEU, so it would be of a ...
- Опубликовано:
- 29.02.2016 19:19:00
... times of peril. Barring game-changing wildcards, this is the 21st century reality.
In terms of longevity, Greater Eurasia’s civilization-states include China and India (5,000-years-old), Iran and Israel (4,000 years), Japan (3,000 years) and Russia (1,000 years). All other nations within Greater Eurasia are adjuncts, bridges or melting pots created by some of these ancient states. Japan and Israel however are standalone civilizations, with the latter having suffered a two-millennium gap in ...
- Опубликовано:
- 29.02.2016 07:05:00
Is there the way out of the current financial crisis? The answer to this question unequivocally depends on the prices of oil, fueled by the ongoing economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West and worsening geopolitical situation. According to many western and eastern media, the forecasts about the future of the volatile oil prices are clearly multifarious. The prices of oil at the beginning of the year 2016 fluctuated around ...
- Опубликовано:
- 25.02.2016 12:54:00
Amidst the increasing risks of a military confrontation between Russia and the West, politicians would better to take into account the experience of religious leaders like Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill. By Russia Direct With a great deal of buzz about a global war, involving Russia and other great powers, the ...
- Опубликовано:
- 20.02.2016 21:15:00
With western media continuing to blame Russia and its allies for the escalation of violence in Syria and elsewhere, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told participants at the Munich Security Conference-- itself a relic of the Cold War designed to promote defense spending-- that “all ...
- Опубликовано:
- 16.02.2016 22:23:00
... authoritarian countries . .
These functions are left to the private sector.
Jules Feiffer cartoon on statement by former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Jean Kirkpatrick
In order to judge whether there has been a “rollback of democracy” in Russia, we need to be clear about what is meant by the democratic state of affairs believed to exist before democracy was “rolled back.” We also need to consider what is meant by “rollback,” and what counts as evidence that rollback ...
- Опубликовано:
- 16.02.2016 05:08:00
... or never' opportunity. World leaders were proclaiming their commitment to a cleaner future, diplomats were sharpening their pencils before two weeks of intense negotiations, lobbyists were making last minute calls. However, the atmosphere in Russia was different: though President Putin in his short speech stressed the economic cost of climate change and applauded Russia's progress, one could not shake off the impression that his population simply did not know or care enough about ...
- Опубликовано:
- 25.01.2016 14:50:00
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-russia.html
According to Gleb Pavlovsky, the Kremlin is "still enigmatic, but no longer strategic." Kremlin policy is now "fashioned rather like the music of a jazz group; its continuing improvisation is an attempt to survive the latest ...
- Опубликовано:
- 25.01.2016 08:12:00
.... At least, not until we will have managed to transfer back home all our countrymen and women from Syria who would express their wish to be repatriated. Or until EU and/or NATO will decide in full consensus against preservation of that relation. The Russian intervention, as well as the newly appointed government in Bucharest, do not fundamentally change the current situation. On one hand, the Russian intervention is not (I envisage it will not be) in contradiction with the more discreet intervention ...
- Опубликовано:
- 22.01.2016 09:22:00
Will the war against Islamic State stimulate Russian — Euro-Atlantic Relations? The relations between Russia and the West have worsened due to the confrontation on the Southeast Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia. Consequent sanctions imposed on Russia by the West could have resulted ...
- Опубликовано:
- 21.01.2016 14:19:00
... "fairly benign interview." ... "The answers were much more rational than someone from the Republican right domestically may have provided, but they demonstrate the understandable bias of the ‘western’ views vis a vis NATO, ISIS, and Russia/Ukraine." Nevertheless, Breedlove does not come across as "someone who is itching for a fight with Russia, nor for the aerial bombing of Syria, perhaps cognizant of his audience which may not be quite as patriotically or geopolitically ...
- Опубликовано:
- 11.01.2016 05:16:00
For the past two years the government of Worker's Party president Dilma V. Rousseff has targeted Russian capital in an effort to help modernize its deteriorating rail transportation infrastrcture, putting on offer “concessions” in Brazil's vaunted Logistics Investment Program (PIL). The rail component of the PIL has become fashionable ...
- Опубликовано:
- 23.12.2015 17:43:00
... countries in new energy opportunities. Diversify European energy supply is one of the main goal that the just born Energy Union is trying to face, in order to decrease import dependency and related security supply risks. Europe relies for more than 25% on Russian gas, which could be considered the principal energy partner of the EU. At the same time EU is for Russia the main natural gas costumer, playing a decisive role in Russia export policies – 71% of Russian gas exports go to the European market[1]....
- Опубликовано:
- 18.12.2015 10:19:00
In the wake of Turkey’s downing of a Russian military jet that violated its airspace and Russia’s resulting casualties, tensions are certainly on the rise. Despite the fact that these tensions should not be overblown, important questions about Putin’s aims need to be addressed....
- Опубликовано:
- 13.12.2015 16:44:00
When Turkey shot down that Russian bomber, what exactly was in the message and from whom, more importantly, was it coming from? Who was it that was really saying, “Come on baby light my fire. Try to set the night on fire?”
The fact that the Turkish plane, which shot ...
- Опубликовано:
- 01.12.2015 15:58:00
... specifically, the paper tried to give an explanation of why Germany, Lithuania and Poland have developed determinate national identities, and consequent policies, as a result of a process of confrontation with the image of an ‘other’, in this case Russia. The author debates that, even though all three countries had had traumatic experiences with Russia in the past, this fact has not prevented all of them from developing over the years good bilateral relations with Moscow. Although interesting lessons ...
- Опубликовано:
- 30.11.2015 11:21:00
... interconnectedness” and “global governance” are the unchallenged dictums of the day. But is this Eurocentric axiom relevant anymore? This may sound rather disconcerting but the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) or Greater Eurasia – facilitated by Russian geopolitics and Chinese Silk Road initiatives –may in fact constitute a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Proponents of the global village paradigm may be discomposed by this suggestion but as Groucho Marx once said: “A black cat crossing ...
- Опубликовано:
- 24.11.2015 16:34:00
... more hate, destabilization, terrorist recruits, and by playing right into the terrorists’ playbook.
As France and the world decide how to react to this horrific terrorist attack—one following on the verily likely terrorist downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula—it is important to take a breath. This could very well lead to massive escalation in Syria by France (and maybe Russia, in relation to the airliner attack) and maybe even by others if it turns out ...
- Опубликовано:
- 21.11.2015 13:33:00
