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As a Euro-Pacific nation, Russia is in a good position to connect directly with all important economic, technological, political, military, and cultural players in the world—and keep the right balance among them in its foreign policy.
Ukraine will most probably sign an association agreement with the European Union. This is good news for Russia, including Vladimir Putin—although he would emphatically disagree.
Putin aims for a world order in which the Security Council’s five permanent members, not the United States—alone or with its allies—decide on major issues pertaining to war and peace.
Connectivity in Asia and the Pacific, one of the main themes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, held on October 7 and 8 in Bali, is certainly growing.
Both Russia and the European Union are at a stage when setting out their own domestic priorities and defining their respective global roles are more important than achieving an alliance.
The emerging rapprochement between Washington and Tehran creates a potential opportunity for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to boost his country’s international standing.
Next to maintaining a strict balance between two former overlords, Beijing and Moscow, Ulan Bator seeks to balance its both physical neighbors with a third—virtual—one.
Russia’s position on Syria is not primarily about Syria. It is about the world order: who has the right to decide on a military intervention?
Obama needs to follow up on the Syrian disarmament plan and be ready to augment it by a serious effort at a political settlement in Syria within the Geneva framework. If there is to be a solution on Syria, Iran should be part of it. Engaging the Iranians on Syria would be a confidence building measure which would also help in the nuclear talks.
As Russia proceeds with its massive rearmament program, its arms exports, a lifeline in the 1990s, will be important, but no longer critical. The truly critical question is, what Russia itself will be arming against.
