At Deauville, Europe Embraces Russia
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany have had their differences over the years, but on one thing they appear to agree: if Europe wants to remain relevant in the world and maintain peace in its own backyard, it needs Russia.
Russia moves closer to NATO over controversial missile shield
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has indicated Moscow might soften its stance on a controversial anti-missile shield after reassurances from France and Germany. READ MORE
Think Tank Report Urges EU To Reconsider Chosen Security Strategies
Pan-European security cooperation will top the agenda at the Deauville Summit between the leaders of Germany, France and Russia but while the topic is a pressing one, are they the right people to be talking about it? READ MORE
Election Results Threaten U.S. Presence At Manas Air Base
Political parties backed by Russia are poised to take power in Kyrgyzstan, threatening closure for a strategic U.S. airbase for the war in Afghanistan. READ MORE
Russia Is Ready To Give China Everything
Ukraine, declaring its intention to develop the relations of strategic partnership with China, should be really cautious about the way of the promotion of the relations between Beijing and Moscow. Following the official terms, they have already reached the level of “comprehensive deepening of partnership and strategic interaction”. READ MORE
Russia Plans Increased Energy Exports
Senior Russian officials have made clear that the country’s energy policies will continue to evolve around the nexus of ambitious export plans. The government pledged to make the country’s gas exports more flexible. Russia’s total gas exports will include 10 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2020 and 15 percent by 2030, Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, announced on September 17. The global demand for hydrocarbons will be increasing in the next decade according to Putin. READ MORE
Ottawa Holds Talks With Russia As Norway Signs Accord
Frosty diplomatic relations were thawing like Arctic ice as Norway reached a landmark deal with Russia this week over a 40-year-old Barents Sea boundary dispute, and Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon held cordial meetings Thursday with Russian officials in Moscow. READ MORE
BRIC Military Modernization and the New Global Defense Balance (Part 1 of 2)
The message promoted by foreign policy gurus in recent years is that the American moment is over and a new global balance is emerging; one where power is no longer concentrated in Washington but spread among several different countries. The U.S. will continue to retain a prominent position at the top of the global food chain we are told, but no longer will there be the sense of American worldwide hegemony. Instead the emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so-called “BRICs”) will assume their rightful place as great powers and in the process create a new multi-polar world. READ MORE
Russia Picks Up The China Card
The warm relationship between Russia and China should be an indication that Russia is keeping its foreign policy options open. Long gone are the times when aged and frail denizens of the Kremlin would go on a foreign trip only on special occasions: to sign a strategic arms control treaty or to visit with fellow septuagenarians in the so-called fraternal socialist countries. READ MORE
Putin Looks Sour Loser On Nabucco
Russia seems to have lost its lobbying battle in Europe for its South Stream pipeline carrying gas and against rival Nabucco, which is planned to run from Azerbaijan via Turkey to the European markets. At present, Moscow seeks as a last resort to negate the availability of gas supplies to the Nabucco project in the Caspian basin. READ MORE
