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Although President-elect Obama and President Medvedev have not gotten off to a warm start, that may not set the tone of the relationship. In the past, leaders in both capitals that started with high expectations about the other country were subsequently disappointed.
As emerging-market powers have grown economically, their geopolitical rise is occurring equally quickly. The G20 summit highlights a new ‘new world order,’ in which emerging powers have a stronger voice in international institutions. Despite their sometimes differing agendas, countries like China, India, Russia, and Brazil are learning to work together to earn a voice in this new economic order.
In his first—and possibly last—state-of-the-nation speech, President Medvedev seemed to focus on returning Putin to the Kremlin instead of adequately addressing Russia’s troubled economy. It is clear from the address that the president intends to increase United Russia's dominance by increasing its control over both the regional elite and the government.
The election of Barack Obama as President means that he now joins President Dmitry Medvedev as the first post-baby boom leaders of their respective nations. Because the two leaders are so clearly of a new generation, they have the most opportunity to finally succeed in breaking the old patterns of distrust and disengagement between the United States and Russia.
The past three months have been a turbulent time for the Russian Federation, marked by the Russia-Georgia conflict, global financial crisis, and U.S. presidential elections. Carnegie's Nikolai Petrov explains how the government’s response has illustrated that modernization from above will not occur in Russia.
The success of "state capitalism" – a capitalist economy run with a high degree of state control – has made it a model for states across the developing world. Western powers may now be wondering whether their brand of capitalism will triumph after all.
Without significant political and financial support, nuclear energy is expected to decline in its share of electricity generation by 2030. The drivers for that support seem to be nuclear energy's contributions to energy security and climate change. Yet nuclear energy won't reduce American dependence on foreign oil, which has been a key concern of many Americans.
A discussion of the superstructure of the nuclear order and the need for U.S. leadership in disarmament and reinvigorated U.S.-Russian arms control cooperation.
The recent changes made to Russia’s regional leadership shows that neither Medvedev’s presidency nor the financial crisis has changed the Kremlin’s approach in appointing ‘strongman’ regional leaders. But it also shows that the range of opportunities open to the Kremlin to reform the regions has narrowed significantly.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates cautioned that the U.S. cannot maintain a credible nuclear deterrent without testing or modernizing its aging stockpile. Gates urged the next U.S. president to engage Russia in new arsenal reduction talks and pointed to the loss of top talent in U.S. weapons laboratories as a major source of concern.
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