Armenia and Turkey have a chance to move forward from their troubled past by ratifying the historic protocols signed in October 2009. While the governments in both Yerevan and Ankara face strong opposition to the protocols, a failure to ratify the agreement could have disastrous consequences for the entire region.
The Turkish government’s new foreign policy of building bridges with old enemies, including the Armenians and the Greeks, is working to slowly bring about a new spirit of tolerance in modern Turkey.
The recent State Council meeting on the subject of modernizing Russia's political system reflected the growing political cracks in the foundation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s vertical power structure.
The administration of President Barack Obama sees the repair of the U.S. relationship with Russia as a major foreign policy objective, and has spent its first year ambitiously attempting to reset relations and place them on a more positive footing.
By combining the posts of presidential envoy and deputy prime minister for the newly created North Caucasus Federal District, the Kremlin is taking strong political measures to end the violence in the North Caucasus.
Russia’s recovery remains slow. With domestic demand still weak, oil and natural gas producers—critical players in the Russian economy—are looking for markets outside of Russia.
Russia’s accession to the WTO—which would benefit both Russia and the global trading system—has been stalled since June. To move forward, Russia must clarify its accession plan and prove its commitment to the WTO.
The most crucial areas for U.S.-Russia relations in 2010 include cooperation on Afghanistan and Iran, future developments in Georgia and Ukraine, and discussions of a new European security system inclusive of Russia.
Russian policy makers need to open space for public debate and engage in substantive discussions on critical global issues, and Western governments and institutions need to open the door to independent Russian voices.
At some point Putin and Medvedev will have to decide between giving priority to the survival of the current system and accepting Russia's steady marginalization, or supporting modernization by opening up the system and putting its survival at risk.














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