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The meetings between the presidents of Russia and the United States have long since ceased to hold any fateful significance, and that is good. What is bad is that they have become unproductive. The encounter between Putin and Bush in Hanoi has the potential to be an exception if a decision regarding Russia's accession to the WTO can be made there.
After nearly 13 years of tough negotiations, the United States and the Russian Federation have finally reached a bilateral agreement about Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization. It is the only piece of good news for a relationship that has steadily deteriorated to a point of acrimony and distrust not seen since Mr. Gorbachev came to power more than twenty years ago.
Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin were all smiles when they met Wednesday at a Moscow refueling stop during Bush's trip to Asia. But the truth is that the U.S.-Russian relationship has reached its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, religion, in particular Islam, has come to play an important role in Russia’s regions. Two different processes characterize religion and society in Russia: on one level, there has been a desecularization of the elite, and on another, there have been significant changes within Russian Islam.
Russia has again embraced czarism for a number of reasons. One, a long tradition of undivided and almost sacred power. Two, democracy has earned a bad name in the popular Russian mind. Three, most people want stability and peace. Four, most are not yet ready to assume responsibility for governance. Five, the successful people in Russia don’t care about politics: they are busy making money.
This book examines the strategic balance in Asia and the increasing levels of trade and interdependence in the region, assessing the implications for the United States.
The anti-Georgian campaign may well turn out to be simply a resentful overreaction to Georgia's arrogance with regard to the alleged spying rather than a deliberate policy aimed at capitalizing on public xenophobia. But in the xenophobic atmosphere of today's Russia, this threatens to further encourage ethnic hatred and lead to more loss of life.
Aside from the tragedy and horror of Anna Politkovskaya's assassination, it is sad and depressing, though not unexpected, to witness how little reaction her murder has caused in Russia. In today's Russia idealism and direct challenges to the government authorities are scarcely regarded as virtues.
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