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Archive - Nov 1, 2013

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Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Russia's Nuclear Forces

By James M. Acton

On June 19, 2013—just hours before President Barack Obama called for further nuclear reductions in Berlin—President Vladimir Putin issued a preemptive rebuttal, stating that we see that work is active around the world on developing high‐precision conventional weapons systems that in their strike capabilities come close to strategic nuclear weapons. Countries that have such weapons substantially increase their offensive capability. READ MORE

Russian-Polish Relations Need A Shot In the Arm

By DMITRI TRENIN

Several years after the Polish presidential plane crash and the initial Russian-Polish rapprochement, the process of reconciliation has visibly stagnated. The Polish opposition accused the government, and the Russians, of having engineered the crash at Smolensk. Prime Minister Tusk got scared and preferred to stay passive in front of the absurd accusations. Moscow rejected even minimal responsibility of the Russian ground controllers in the affair. Apparently trying to keep the investigation suspended so as not to give more ammunition to the Polish opposition, Russia has still not returned the wreckage of the Polish presidential plane to Warsaw. True, there still have been notable achievements such as the agreement allowing for visa-free travel in the border areas, which include Kaliningrad and Gdansk, as well as regular trilateral meetings among the foreign ministers of Russia, Poland, and Germany. Yet, with the Civic Platform doing now badly in the polls, a return of PiS to government after the election two years from now is a distinct possibility.  READ MORE

Political reboot postponed in Czech Republic after election

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It should have been the end of the political crisis. Instead, the Czechs chose a protest vote. Following an early election with no clear winner, a new political crisis looms. READ MORE