Section: The American Interest (USA)
Looking for Explanations—or Justification?
Editor’s Note: How do Russia and the West see one another? What are the experts’ views on the confrontation between Russia and the West? How do the pundits explain the Russo-Ukrainian war and Russia’s Syrian gambit? What are the roots of the mythology about Russia in the West, and why has the West failed to predict and...
Meanwhile, in Syria…
What’s been happening in Syria since the “cessation of hostilities” began to take effect about ten days ago? Both less and more than meets the eye of the casual observer.When I last wrote about Syria, here and here, I was skeptical that the forthcoming cessation of hostilities would stick for long. So were most sentient observers. So was...
Production Freeze Talk Pushes Oil Above $40
It’s been a great day for oil markets and, by extension, for crude producers. Brent crude is up more than 5 percent on the day, cracking $40 per barrel for the first time since the first week of December, and America’s WTI benchmark is only a couple of dollars behind. As the FT reports, prices are rebounding as petrostates prepare to...
Europe Begins to Worry
After Super Tuesday, the odds now heavily favor Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to clinch their parties’ nominations. So it is not too early to ask how a Clinton or Trump presidency would shape Transatlantic relations. To judge by what I have heard, Europeans who have been paying attention to the race are increasingly anxious—no matter who...
Gazprom Goes Hat in Hand to China for a Loan
Gazprom is having cash flow problems, which is why it turned to the Bank of China for a 2 billion euro loan this week. The FT reports: The Russian state-controlled gas group agreed the five-year loan — one of the largest ever from a Chinese lender to a Russian company — with Bank of China’s London branch at a meeting in Shanghai on...
Kazakhstan’s Ethnic Russians Get Restless
Westerners are used to hearing about Kazakhstan from a certain comedian, but the Central Asia country may soon become a hot topic for serious reasons. People are starting to worry that Kazakhstan, which is home to millions of ethnic Russians, might be the next Ukraine. Reuters: There is no separatist rebellion in northern Kazakhstan, but the...
Next Up in the EU: Czexit?
With four months to the Brexit vote, EU referenda seem to be getting more and more popular in Europe. Open Europe reports: Czech President Milos Zeman yesterday voiced support for a potential referendum on EU exit in the country, arguing, “I’m on the side of those who are against a [Czech] EU exit, but I also oppose those who want to...
The Pragmatists Turn to Geopolitics
Editor’s Note: How do Russia and the West see one another? What are the experts’ views on the confrontation between Russia and the West? How do the pundits explain the Russo-Ukrainian war and Russia’s Syrian gambit? What are the roots of the mythology about Russia in the West, and why has the West failed to predict and...
Who Will Dethrone the Tsar?
Five years ago, when then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that he would be taking back the Presidency from Dmitry Medvedev, Russian intellectuals fell into despair. They saw no end to the Putin regime, and prophesied that Vladimir Vladimirovich would once again “castle” with his junior partner in 2024 to become Prime Minister after his...
Boris Nemtsov (1959-2015)
In memory of Boris Nemtsov, a hero not only of his country but of what I would call the Democratic International, I would like to offer a few broad conclusions that I have drawn from the horror of his fate. These are all sobering conclusions; but our times are schooling us in a new sobriety about history. We are learning, too, to be more sober...
