Russia has officially entered the hectic election period, and despite the political stability that has been reached in the country, the political campaign season has not become a routine matter. Thus, President Vladimir Putin is demonstrating a creative approach to the challenge and refuses to let the political elite relax.

Few individuals will dare give detailed forecasts about further developments in the country; yet, this does not seem to be crucial since the main principles of Russia’s political model will not noticeably change. Thus, contributors Svetlana Babayeva and Georgy Bovt discuss what exactly the participants in the election campaign in Russia should be thinking about – not so much about forms and rates of the country’s development, as the fundamental goals of this development.

Western commentators are racking their brains about whether or not the present chill in Russia-West relations has any relation to the election campaign. The standard conclusion is that the Kremlin’s tough foreign-policy rhetoric is a product for internal use only. Once the elections are over, the rhetoric will change.

Of course, one may invent whatever conclusions one likes, since power in Russia is far from being transparent. Yet, it would be an oversimplification to explain changes in Moscow’s approaches to international affairs by the political situation inside the country. The outgoing year was marked by an advance in Russia’s understanding of the present world order and the role this country plays in it.

An article by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is perhaps the first detailed exposition of Russia’s approaches to acute problems and, moreover, the philosophy of Russia’s foreign policy. The head of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, analyzes the underlying reasons for the lack of understanding between Russia and the West. Also in this issue, Sergei Karaganov provides an analysis of the state of Russia-West relations. He warns about the coming of a “New Epoch of Confrontation” brought about by the restoration of Russia’s positions in the world and by the weakening of the “traditional West.”

Ivan Krastev argues that the present differences between Russia and the West derive from the essence of ‘sovereign democracy,’ a concept that may well be described as the official ideology of Russia. In his view, Russia’s approaches are rooted in the European tradition which, however, is opposite to the one that is dominant in the European Union today. This view is challenged by Leonid Polyakov, who interprets Krastev’s arguments as a desire to substantiate a breach between Russia and the EU.

Hiski Haukkala urges Russia and the EU to come to the realization that in our 21st-century world neither side will be able to become a global leader on their own. This is why they should open a new page in their relations and focus on integration projects, above all in the field of energy. This is the main idea of the articles by Vlad Ivanenko and Vladimir Milov. Vladimir Feygin and Vladimir Revenkov share their views concerning the idea of a “gas OPEC” which is causing apprehension among European clients of Russia’s fuel/energy sector.

On a different note, Olga Butorina writes about the difficulties the EU faces due to its enlargement. Has this organization become too heterogeneous? Russian veteran diplomat Yuri Dubinin recalls the repercussions of Charles de Gaulle’s slogan about a “Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals” in Nikita Khrushchev’s Russia.

Igor Zevelyov and Mikhail Troitsky analyze Russian-U.S. relations through the prism of Washington’s views of Russia and China. Alek Epstein in his article comes to a discouraging conclusion concerning the development of relations between Russia and Israel. Ten years ago, these relations seemed to hold promise, but the two countries have not made much progress in their bilateral ties since then.

The Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, Tigran Torosyan, offers an interesting view on a key problem of modern politics, namely the future of ‘unrecognized states’ and the relation between various principles of international law.

Finally, our Personage section provides an interview with a veteran of world politics, Hans Blix, the former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the head of a UN inspection commission that was tasked to verify whether Saddam’s Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Our next issue will continue with discussions on European affairs; it will also focus on issues involving Central Asia, the Korean settlement, and many other subjects.