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.
The crisis in Georgia bluntly revealed the failure by the United States and Russia to create a closer working relationship after the Cold War. Agreements like the START and Concentional Armed Forces in Europe treaties could help establish a new book of rules both countries can embrace.
In this phase of the financial crisis, struggling countries are looking to rising powers for help, rather than turning to the conditional aid traditionally offered by the IMF. This trend highlights the shifting global financial order and indicates that emerging powers will undoubtedly play a larger role as the international community attempts to define a new global financial system.
A key factor in Sunday’s national Russian elections was that parties lacking State Duma representation were denied registration. This is part of the current Kremlin strategy to purge the political field. But the grim economic situation makes this effort, and the election of deputies doing little more than passing along instructions from the top, morally obsolete.
Russia’s actions in the Russia-Georgia conflict proved that for the Kremlin, foreign policy is the crucial means of carrying out its domestic agenda. For the political elite, this agenda maintains the status quo. However, such a policy is unlikely to stand. Should Russia be unable to start to reform it risks collapse and repeating the end of the Soviet Union.

























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