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9 january 2018
Insights and Recommendations
This compilation is meant as a sampling of Graham’s views. The quotes below are divided into categories similar to those in Russia Matters’ news and analysis digests, reflecting the most pertinent topic areas for U.S.-Russian relations broadly and for drivers of the two countries’ policies toward one another.
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9 january 2018
New World Vision
The mankind enters an era of critical transformation. The conflict between different political forces is deepening.
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9 january 2018
Combating Future Uncertainties: Goals for 2018
Combating future uncertainties is the main task when it comes to forecasting anything. Speaking about international relations, there are two key uncertainties here – the unknown motives of actors in a crisis and the likelihood of spontaneous relevant events.
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29 december 2017
Main Results of 2017: Energetic Russia and the Greater Eurasia Community
The main achievement in Russia’s foreign policy for 2017, and for several years prior to that, has been the development of a strategic concept, for the first time since 1991. The physical embodiment of this concept is the idea of the Greater Eurasian Partnership.
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28 december 2017
US Sanctions Against Russia: The Forecast for 2018
The US sanctions bill (PL 115-44) offers a clear idea of the parameters and dimensions of the US sanctions policy for 2018.
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26 december 2017
2017: A Lost Year for U.S.-Russia Relations
Any hopes that the incoming Trump administration might have been able to provide a fresh stimulus to improving ties with Russia were quickly smashed almost before the administration took office.
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25 december 2017
Poland, Enfant Terrible of Europe
New Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that after WWII Poland did not receive adequate compensation from Germany for the damage it had suffered and has the right to bring the topic of reparations to the agenda of Polish-German negotiations.
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25 december 2017
Russia and the West: A New Cold War?
Russia’s conflictual relationship with the West has been described as a Cold War-like confrontation. In reality, these powers are engaged in an asymmetric rivalry, not a Cold War.
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21 december 2017
Between Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific: India’s New Geopolitics
India’s decision to join a renewed quadrilateral security dialogue with the United States, Japan and Australia on the margins of the East Asia Summit in November 2017 has raised many political eyebrows around the world.
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21 december 2017
Russia Is The Honey Badger Of International Relations
It claws and gnashes well above its weight. It can't kill a lion or an alligator, but it won't run away from them either. The honey badger is Russia in 2017.
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21 december 2017
When Washington Assured Russia NATO Would Not Expand
How America's failure to honor a 1990 commitment led to many of today's global crises.
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20 december 2017
Does Trump’s Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital Matter?
President Trump announced that the U.S. was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and would move the American embassy to that city from Tel Aviv.
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20 december 2017
Military Alliances Versus Collective Security
Having taught international law and politics in the universities of different countries, I have often discussed with my students matters of collective security and collective self-defence, which is sometimes carried out by military alliances.
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18 december 2017
The Far East: A Springboard for Cooperation Between Russia and the Asia-Pacific region
The new strategic priorities of Russia's policy in Asia and the ways of developing economic ties in the region were discussed at the session of the Valdai Club titled "Turning Russia to the East: The Next Decade," which was held on December 14 as part of the Days of the Far East in Moscow.
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18 december 2017
Putin's Plan for Syria
Russia realizes that with the war waning and reconstruction looming, others will begin to step forward in Syria, including China, Europe, and Japan. Moscow will seek to partner with them to secure a piece of the lucrative reconstruction effort.
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18 december 2017
Where is US Foreign Policy Heading? Long-Term Factors and Prospects
Most foreign policy debates since Donald Trump took over as president a year ago have been dedicated to his unpredictability, inexperience and even his presidential incompetence, or to the strengths of Congress, the establishment and even members of Trump’s administration, who allegedly possess the ability to neutralize his “non-system” impulses.
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15 december 2017
The End of European Bilateralisms: Germany, France, and Russia
Today German and French positions reflect much more the skepticism ingrained in the EU’s “five guiding principles for relations with Russia” than previous ideas of a strategic partnership with Moscow.
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15 december 2017
Russia Has Dissolved America’s Uni-Polar Project in the Middle East
The Russian Armed Forces' Chief of Staff announced that “all terrorist units of ISIS on Syrian soil have been destroyed, and the territory is liberated”. Quite an achievement! — brought about by the Syrian Army, by Iran, by Hizbullah, and of course, by Russia’s military forces and its diplomats (the latter playing an important effective part, too). It represents a significant feat of multi-party co-ordination.
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15 december 2017
Can Europe Sustain the Macron Moment?
The European Union's political and economic outlook improved dramatically in 2017, following a year in which the bloc reeled from the United Kingdom's Brexit referendum and Donald Trump's election in the United States. But European leaders must not become complacent in 2018, or the EU could be thrown into crisis yet again the following year.
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13 december 2017
A Crisis of Perception and Reality in EU-Russia Relations
EU and Russia do currently live and represent two distinct normative models in the world, and neither is likely to completely prevail over the other.
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11 december 2017
Belt and Road to Where?
Setting aside the shortcomings of the Belt and Road concept, the “OBOR hype’ around the world points to a real and fundamental trend — the ascent of China as a truly global economic and military power.
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11 december 2017
Moscow’s leverage in Syria is strong, but limited
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared “a complete victory” over the Islamic State on both banks of the Euphrates River in Syria.
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11 december 2017
How Trump’s Decision on Jerusalem Can Give Momentum to Palestinian Statehood
The Palestinian response to Donald Trump’s move might take one of two shapes: to give him a chance to develop the “ultimate deal” and present it to the parties in the coming months or to transform the hit into an opportunity to get their right of self-determination in their independent state.
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11 december 2017
Moscow-based think tank director: Russia’s unexpected military victory in Syria
One of the main events of 2017 has been the victory won by the Russian armed forces and the Assad government in Syria.
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7 december 2017
Armenia’s “Both/And” Policy for Europe and Eurasia
Four years ago, Armenia’s failure to sign the EU Association Agreement was an early indication of the impending Ukraine crisis.
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5 december 2017
A BRICS+ Framework for Africa: Targeting Regional Connectivity
As the current years draws to a close, one of its key results may be the greater initiative that is taken by the developing world in driving economic integration in the global economy. China has firmly occupied the leading role in the sphere of opening markets and advancing new formats and models of economic integration.
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4 december 2017
In China’s Footsteps: Why the Russian Bear Should Enter Stealth Mode
As Russia is approaching a point where economic and technological backwardness will become a real threat to its security and sovereignty, one possible option for it is a stealth strategy.
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4 december 2017
Plural but equal in everyone’s world: Dialogue in Sochi – or Information Warfare by Other Means?
Geopolitical pluralism, in all its continentally and regionally uneven permutations is the global reality in what passes for ‘no one’s world’ (Charles Kupchan) and/or a ‘world in disarray’ (Richard Haas) when in fact, there is an evolving underlying logic to a multipolar landscape in what should be considered ‘everyone’s world.’
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29 november 2017
Nobody’s Revolution: The Russian State and the Fight for Memory
In Russia, there is no particularly tense strife between supporters and opponents of the hundred-year-old revolution.
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29 november 2017
Nobody’s President? Putin Enters the Era of Transition
The 2018 election in Russia is turning into a real political event. Putin is an undeclared candidate and Navalny is an unregistered one, who will have a real influence. The Kremlin is now run by regents around a diminished president, and discussion is already focusing on what the post-Putin era will look like.
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What Has Happened to Ukraine
(1421)
Alexey Popov -
No Need to Wait for an Attack, the Threat of War Is in the Air
(1184)
Sergey Karaganov -
A US Withdrawal from Syria?
(1105)
Paul Saunders -
The Day the United Nations Ceased to Exist
(1076)
Andrey Kortunov -
It is not Russia that is shaping this world order, it is history.
(1072)
Sergey Lavrov
Ideology of Eastward Turn
The first phase of Russia’s turn towards rising Asia is gaining momentum – the Far East’s rate of development is twice the national average.
Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki might solve Syrian crisis
Russia and the United States have very different approaches and goals in the Middle East, but they could lead to a solution in Syria.
Putin-Trump: the Real Test Will Come in the Implementation Phase After the Summit Is Over
The most likely outcome of the Putin-Trump summit is that both Presidents will declare it a success and agree that their officials will begin work on resolving a number of difficult issues. But the real test will come in the implementation phase after the summit is over.
The Art of Expectation Management
It is evident that Vladimir Putin yearns for a meeting with Donald Trump. He has always desired this meeting — since the day Trump had won the presidential election in November of 2016. The Kremlin would have apparently preferred an early summit to take place in spring of last year.
How to Reduce Nuclear Risks in Helsinki
Presidents Trump and Putin will finally meet next week in Helsinki for a bilateral summit. Throughout the Cold War, summits between US and Soviet leaders were overwhelmingly welcomed in both countries and the world as an opportunity to reduce tensions.
The New Global Governance: Towards a More Sustainable Framework
Faced with threats ranging from climate change to hugely disruptive technological advances, the world is clearly at a crossroads. More than ever a stable, inclusive and global governance is needed.
Infrastructure Connectivity and Political Stability in Eurasia
The country’s geographic location largely predetermines its foreign policy, as well as the trajectory of its socioeconomic development. However, even the most negative geographical limitations can be overcome via connectivity and compatibility that are the passport to the success of Eurasian integration.