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NATO's decision not to offer Georgia an immediate path to membership appears at first glance to be a blow to Washington. Although the NATO secretary-general announced that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually become members, Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, confidently predicted that nothing would change anytime soon.
The next Russian administration, with Dmitry Medvedev as president and Vladimir Putin remaining at the helm as prime minister, may evolve into something different from Putin's current rule. But the expectations of liberalization that Medvedev's rhetoric and non-KGB background might have raised in some circles are wishful thinking.
With Dmitry Medvedev's triumph in the presidential election grabbing the spotlight, elections for regional leaders went almost entirely unnoticed, despite the fact that elections were held simultaneously for legislative assemblies in 11 regions and a large number of municipalities and mayors as well.
The authorities conducted this presidential campaign in no time at all. Only 12 weeks passed from the day President Vladimir Putin announced his chosen successor to the day Dmitry Medvedev was elected, during which time Medvedev managed to squeeze in only a single official day off. The right candidates ran, the right number of people voted and the right person won.
In The Wall Street Journal, Carnegie Moscow Center's Dmitri Trenin comments on the recent election of Dmitry Medvedev as Russia’s next president. “Mr. Medvedev's arrival at the Kremlin is billed as the continuation of the Putin course,” he writes.
In a Newsweek article, Carnegie’s Dmitri Trenin analyzes the legacy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Putin's critics argue he killed the seeds planted in the Gorbachev years and nurtured in the Yeltsin era—an argument that should not be trivialized,” he writes.
Kosovo has evolved as an issue of consensus among the Russian leadership as well as the public. The Russian people – from nationalist hawks to liberal Westernizers – all agree: Kosovo independence is not a good idea.
When the U.S. launched a missile to destroy a dead satellite that would have otherwise re-entered the atmosphere and possibly threatened populated areas with a toxic load of hydrazine fuel, it resurrected fears about the so-called weaponization of space. Carnegie Associate Ashley J. Tellis comments in the Wall Street Journal on the ongoing “space weapon” debate and praises the Bush administration for rejecting a joint Russian-Chinese arms treaty aimed at banning such weapons.
Peter the Great once decreed that Russian monarchs should appoint their own successors. Peter forgot to do it himself, but the tradition eventually took root and survived the fall of both czardom and the Soviet Union. The upcoming succession of Russian President Vladimir Putin is no exception.
Lilia Shevtsova argues in a Daily Telegraph opinion editorial that Putin will remain the architect of foreign and security policy while Medvedev is to concentrate on economic and social issues. She writes: “In the Putin-Medvedev tango, Prime Minister Putin is going to be the lead dancer. President Medvedev is left with a somewhat humiliating role.”
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