Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s consolidation or power, and Moscow’s pre-occupation with Russia’s economic and political crisis will force the Kremlin to reconsider Putin’s policy of appeasing Chechnya.
President Obama spoke brilliantly and powerfully at Russia's New Economic School during his Moscow trip. Unfortunately, few Russians heard his speech or got more than a glimpse of the American president on the television news.
A recent poll showing that 60 percent of Russians support the return of direct elections for regional governors, indicates a growing realization that the authorities are in no condition to fulfill their obligations.
The agreements reached between U.S. President Obama and Russian President Medvedev at the U.S.-Russia summit showcased a great deal of positive rhetoric, but they are unlikely to lead to a substantial improvement in overall relations.
Pushing the "reset button" on U.S.-Russia relations will be impossible if a dramatic curtailment of Russian state resources produces harder political crackdowns, economic nationalism, and isolationism.
Each of seven major religions in Eurasia—Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Protestantism, Russian Orthodoxy, and paganism—has been forced to develop under the modern pressures of globalization.
Bashkortostan President Rakhimov's public attack on United Russia's centralization of power strengthened him politically and demonstrated the political savvy of the older cadre of Russian governors.
The Russian government has intensified its attempts to edit the nation's past by establishing an anti-falsification commission whose potential effects on academic research are disquieting.
The economic crisis has had a clear impact on the already impoverished countries of Central Asia, but few Americans and Europeans have noticed. China and Russia have stepped in to provide aid, and their investments threaten institutional reform in the region.
Grave violence plagues the North Caucasus, which should be a key humanitarian concern for Europe. But the economic crisis will largely determine how much will be done to help the region.