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| Debates About Values |
Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief
Thirty years ago, on August 1, 1975, the leaders of 35 countries gathered in Helsinki to sign the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. |
| A Yardstick for Russia |
Alexander Muzykantsky
Unless Russia takes into account the national characteristics that to a very large degree shaped the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation today, it will be impossible to devise a new model necessary for adjusting to the realities of the modern world. Are there some positive Russian characteristics that could be successfully called upon for the modernization process? |
| A Road Map for Russian Reform |
Grigory Yavlinsky
Unless real reform is implemented in a comprehensive way within the next five to ten years, Russia will irretrievably lose the chance to become a modern developed country, while disintegration trends, as was the case with the Soviet Union, will become irreversible. |
| A Long-Term Project for Russia |
Andrei Illarionov
The prospects for long-term investment in Russia will take definite shape only when the country succeeds in the so-called ‘entrepreneurial project.’ The successful development of business is the only format in which Russia can develop as a civilized and successful country. |
| Lessons of the Spanish Empire |
Vladimir Mau
A reliance on natural resources in a country’s development causes grave economic problems and results in the government’s awkward decisions. The instances can be easily found in recent and distant history. |
| Russia’s European Strategy: A New Start |
Situation analysis headed by Sergei Karaganov
In the long term (after 15 to 20 years) the issue of Russia’s accession to the European Union can be raised. In this time, much will depend on what path the EU and Russia take. Russia’s integration with a quasi-federative European state is much less probable than its integration with a union of a more or less free configuration. |
| Reaffirming the Benefits of Russia’s European Choice |
Arkady Moshes
The most important objective for Russia in its relations with the EU is to make a strategic choice. Integration with the EU must be considered the main strategic goal. This can be achieved through a gradual horizontal (sectoral) integration and through increasing its role in the EU political decision-making process. |
| Change or Die |
Olga Butorina, Alexander Zakharov
The disintegration of the CIS, or its lingering in a state of latent disintegration will drastically reduce the potential of the countries in the region – as well as the international community – to control various processes there. Neither the EU nor the U.S. will be able to impose their system of governance in the CIS territory. |
| Russia and Japan: A Failed Breakthrough |
Sergei Chugrov
The opinion is generally held in both Russia and Japan that the main reason for strained relations between Moscow and Tokyo is the long-standing territorial dispute. The real reason, however, lies much deeper: relations between the two countries rest on a mutual mistrust that has been inherited from previous generations. |
| Shadows of the Past in Russia and the Baltic Countries |
Lars Fredén
Russian Vergangenheitsbewältigung is necessary with regard to Russia itself. Russia cannot become a normal European country without admitting the immense crimes that Communism committed against the Russians themselves and Russia’s neighbor states. |
| Russia and the Baltic States: Not a Case of "Flawed" History |
Mikhail Demurin
The Baltic States’ claims to Russia concerning “occupation” and “annexation” of their territories have nothing to do with historical science; they are determined exclusively by political pursuits. |
| The Final Act: Is The Curtain Coming Down? |
Anatoly Adamishin
Today, thirty years after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, one can state that the OSCE has not become – and will now hardly become – a major factor in building a European security system. This organization needs modernization that would suit all the participating nations. |
| Democracy and Nuclear Weapons |
Alexei Arbatov
The very act of raising the issue of democratic control and accountability in nuclear policy can, at best, evoke bewilderment or, at worst, suspicion of evil intentions. Yet, not only is democratic control a legitimate issue, it is long overdue in Russia’s defense and security policy. |
| After the Lull: Russia and the Arab World at a New Stage |
Vladimir Yevtushenkov
The scope of Russia’s potential partners in the Arab world has grown sizably after the ideological element vanished from Russian-Arab relations. Economic interests, together with all of the economic benefits that go with it, necessitate the establishment of contacts with all countries in the region that are ready to cooperate in practical terms. |
| A New Middle East |
Yevgeny Satanovsky
The engagement of external powers in the Middle East has failed to resolve any of the conflicts now tearing the region apart; the problems have been driven into the corner and may flare up again anytime after external pressures are gone. |
Altruism As
National Interest |
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Norway’s involvement in international conflict management is a top priority of its foreign policy. Here it is guided by the belief that wars and instability even in the remotest corners of the world may threaten the prosperity of any individual in the supposedly safe part of it. |
| Fortress Russia |
Mikhail Yuryev
An open economy that presupposes
the impossibility of catching up with
the West paves the way to Russia’s disappearance as a state. Russia will survive only if it adopts an
isolationalist policy for the next few decades. |
