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Recent rallies staged by a group called Strategy 31, demanding that the Kremlin respect the constitutional right of freedom of assembly, have demonstrated the Russian government’s discomfort with unsponsored political activism.
Two years since fighting broke out between Georgia and Russia, the situation in the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains deadlocked and the current western policy of strong rhetorical support for the Georgian position substitutes easy words for hard diplomatic work.
Russia has acted to address climate change, but implementation remains problematic. The ongoing drought and forest fires are a wake-up call to the realities of climate change for both Russia’s public and its government officials.
The Russian government’s drive to modernize its economy is increasingly reflected in its foreign policy priorities, including its relations with the United States, Europe, and China and its position on Iran's nuclear program.
The international community cannot afford to let the unresolved dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh remain a low priority; a renewal of violence would impact not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Georgia, Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
While Russia’s short-term economy will largely depend on oil prices and the country’s demographic challenges, its medium-to-long-term outlook will be influenced by the lessons that leaders take from the crisis, which will affect Russia’s economic structure and policies for many years to come.
The Hague ruling on Kosovo's independence indirectly strengthens the position of other self-proclaimed states—from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to Nagorno-Karabakh and North Cyprus. However, legal rulings do not negate the need to find a political solution.
Missile-defense cooperation would be a potential game changer in U.S.-Russian and NATO-Russian relations and a crucial step toward a sounder European security order.
The modest, verifiable reductions set out in New START do not raise hard questions about the adequacy of the U.S. deterrent. Instead, ratifying the treaty is integral to the Obama administration's overall security agenda and very much in the U.S. national interest.
Through business connections, Georgia and Abkhazia can discover opportunities for mutually beneficial engagement that could improve socio-economic conditions in Abkhazia, build confidence on both sides, and eventually help resolve the conflict there.
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