Russia, a quasi-democracy and an imperial power that never quite gave up all of its colonial holdings, has dedicated much of its post-Soviet foreign policy to resisting everything that the NATO intervention in Libya stands for. It shrugs at human rights violators, abhors military intervention, enshrines the sovereign right of states to do whatever they want internally without fear of outside meddling, and above all objects to the West imposing its ideology on others. NATO itself, after all, is a military alliance constructed in opposition to the Soviet Union. But Russian President Dmitri Medvedev took a surprising break from Russian foreign policy precedent on Friday when, in the middle of a G8 summit in France, he declared that Libyan leader Muammar "Qaddafi has forfeited legitimacy" and that Russia plans "to help him go." READ MORE

President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev have a friendship reputed to be so warm that they can go out for hamburgers together, and joke about mutual acquaintances (even if they refuse to say who they are). READ MORE

"To be honest, Russia is a northern country”, said Putin during the International Arctic Forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue which took place in September 2010. Potential energy and economy impacts of the Arctic changed the views of the Russian officials who now consider it as an important region not only to the economic welfare of the country but also to its status on the international stage. Demonstration of the Russian power in the Arctic Region and aggressive rhetoric has already attracted public attention. READ MORE

The European Union’s plans to start construction on the Nabucco pipeline, which is intended to reduce dependence on Russia for natural gas, have been delayed for another year, until 2013, because the consortium has no gas supply contracts lined up. READ MORE