Section: The American Interest (USA)
Is it a Threat or Desperation?
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday threatened to walk away from a long-standing plutonium disposal agreement with the United States. He submitted a bill to the Russian Duma that would withdraw Russia from a treaty first signed in 2000, but expanded upon in 2006 and 2010.Putin justifed Russia’s withdrawing by pointing to “a core...
The Kremlin’s Tactical Ambiguity
Less then three month after the World Anti-Doping Agency’s experts concluded that the FSB and Russia’s Sports Ministry had set up and then tried to cover up a massive doping scheme for Russia’s athletes (which led to the removal of 111 Russian sportsmen from the Rio Olympics and the banning of the whole Paralympic national team...
We Are Fooling Ourselves about Russia
The painstaking, Dutch-led international investigation into the deaths of nearly 300 souls aboard Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight has concluded, and the report clearly points the finger at Russia. Such a monstrous crime ought to have been enough to convince the West to re-examine its approach to the Russia problem. Yet the West seems all too often...
Justice for the Victims of Flight MH17
Just over two years ago, in the middle of one of the hottest summers in recent memory, the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 changed the direction of the war in Ukraine. The European political class, though horrified by Russia’s bold and unrepentant aggression, was up to that point eager to avoid direct confrontation with the...
Why Is Gazprom So Intent on Nord Stream 2?
When Polish regulators struck down a deal this past month to construct Nord Stream 2—a gas pipeline connecting Russia with Germany via the Baltic Sea—we wondered whether we were seeing the death of the project. Poland’s concern centered on the anti-competition effect the pipeline would have in Europe by making the continent more reliant on...
Abe Really Really Wants A Deal With Russia
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is once again pushing hard to resolve the Kuril islands dispute with Russia, Reuters reports: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is betting that close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s economic woes and regional concerns about China’s rise will help him make progress in a decades-old...
Who is Playing Whom?
“Republika Srpska is a state and Russia is its ally”. Milorad Dodik, the president of the predominantly Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, is not someone known for mincing his words. The referendum on whether RS should celebrate January 9 as a “state holiday” being held today proves he does not shrink from a good political fight either....
Vladimir Putin, Master of Suspense
There are more than a few momentous international developments these days, but one in particular I would call puzzling: How has Russia, the tottering Eurasian Nuclear Petro State, managed to blackmail the West and make it look so weak and pathetic? The key to this mystery, in fact, begins in understanding how Putin has turned Russian weakness...
No Bailouts for Putin
The low turnout for Sunday’s parliamentary election in Russia—less than 48 percent of eligible voters participated, the lowest level since 1991—reflected, among other things, growing disillusionment with the economic situation in the country. According to a recent poll, 72 percent of Russians think their country is in an economic crisis....
The Siloviki Coup in Russia
On the evening of July 15th, international media started broadcasting footage from Istanbul. Tanks were in the streets blocking major roads and communication facilities, and jets were flying overhead. It looked like a coup, and hours later was declared to be a coup attempt by Turkey’s military. By the time the sun had risen over the...
