|
| Choosing a Path |
Fyodor Lukianov, Editor-in-Chief
The recent Russian presidential campaign was void of intrigue, but that does not belittle the significance of the election. Although Vladimir Putin is not leaving politics and will remain in power as the prime minister, a new stage is beginning in the country’s development. |
| The Fork in the Road in 2008 |
Dmitry Furman
Putin’s decision marks a step toward the modernization of Russian mentality that was fashioned by centuries of tsarist autocracy, which suggested that “once a Tsar, always a Tsar.” Second, it implies divesting supreme power of the sacral and personified properties. Third, it sets a precedent whereby a ruler submits himself to “a piece of paper” – the Constitution. |
| A Special Case? |
Arkady Moshes
Ukraine may simply remain an exceptional case in the territory of the former Soviet Union – an interim transitional type, a country treading after its Central European neighbors, but never catching up with them as regards the development of democratic institutions or the degree of economic modernization. And yet it may implement the declared “European choice” in one form or another. |
| Russia and Global Inflation: The Unanticipated Crisis |
Martin G. Gilman
We should recall what Keynes wrote in 1919: “Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency… Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency.” |
| The Gains and Failures of the Energy Superpower |
Andrei Denisov, Alexei Grivach
Russia failed to choose the correct tone that would facilitate building a steady system of mutually beneficial barter relations (energy resources for technologies and access to mineral wealth for access to markets). This is due in no small degree to major changes in the global situation that occurred after Putin’s election as president. |
| Breakthrough Into the Global Arms Market |
Alexander Rybas
Russia’s present capabilities in promoting its armaments on the global market exceed the defense industry’s ability to fulfill current and potential contracts. The further growth of military exports is mainly limited by production capacity. The technological modernization of the Russian defense sector and a marked improvement in the quality of its management must be a top priority task for the country in the next few years. |
| Dictatorship of Law: Interim Results |
Vladimir Ovchinsky
The years of the Putin presidency saw controversial processes in the law enforcement system. The team of the new president will have no other choice other than to step up attacks on corruption and organized crime. The authorities will have to fight with embezzlers and gangsters at an outpacing rate. Otherwise not a single national project or program will ever bring the expected benefits. |
| The Power Vertical and the Nation’s Self-Consciousness |
Ivan Sukhov
It is difficult to imagine how a country that has a huge and ethnically diverse population that does not feel united can experience stable development. Russia has not been “Soviet” for a long time and is gradually becoming an increasingly non-Russian country; however, the governing officials often behave as if they do not see the tectonic shifts that spark open conflicts and clashes. |
| Russia – A Society Without Traditions Facing Modern Challenges |
Emil Pain
Any hopes to resolve the problems facing Russia today by derelict methods of state mobilization are a sheer illusion. Russia has lost its traditionalism and the goal it faces today is not so much to move forward, but, rather, to restore a balance between the elements of state and society that have already been reformed and those that still remain intact. It cannot be ruled out that ethnic consolidation in Russia could open up the road to the rise of a political nation – the way it happened in most European countries. |
| Options for the EU-Russia Strategic Partnership Agreement |
Vladimir Pankov
From the point of view of the vital and long-term interests of Russia and the EU, it would be more preferable for them to conclude a Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement than a modified and improved PCA in the form of PCA-2. However, in the last three to five years, Brussels has been less inclined to look for mutually acceptable compromise solutions. |
| How to Undo the Gordian Knot in EU-Russia Relations |
Kari Liuhto
If all customs checkpoints between the EU and Russia are taken into account, we have – at every minute around the clock – lines of trucks stretching for tens of kilometers. A common goal should be that no truck is forced to wait more than four hours in a line before customs formalities begin. |
| Economics as a Catalyst for Politics? |
Susan Stewart
It has become fashionable to speak of a “crisis” in relations between the EU and Russia. However, this language obscures the fact that developments in the political and economic spheres have been proceeding in quite different ways. It is possible, if not necessarily likely, that the new constellation of the political elite in Russia will take a more cooperative line toward the EU and the West in general. |
| How to Rescue the Partnership? |
Sabine Fischer
It is difficult to call Russia and the EU strategic partners. However, due to the many interdependencies, the EU and Russia have considerable potential for fruitful cooperation on all levels of their relationship. If both sides make use of this potential, there is a realistic chance that a substantial strategic partnership might develop in the future. |
| A Time to Cast Stones |
Timofei Bordachev, Fyodor Lukyanov
Russia’s gradual but irreversible return to the global economy and politics opened up new opportunities – and simultaneously set new requirements and structural restrictions to the national foreign policy. Russia emerged a full-fledged player in global politics in the first years of this century and displayed a conduct completely proportionate to that politics. |
| Transition Without a Destination |
Alexander Lomanov
Russia and China have vehemently rejected the model of external “management by objectives.” They have been quite successful in effectuating a “transition without a destination” or, in other words, a type of transformation that does not envision a merger with already existing organizations on terms set forth by the latter. |
| About the Past That Still Continues |
Anatoly Adamishin
It is becoming increasingly obvious
that decisions made by the end of the Cold War still shape the international situation. Since there is not much optimism about the current state of affairs in the world, there are many discussions as to whether politicians missed some rare chances at that time. In its actions toward Gorbachev in 1989-1991, the U.S.
administration was guided by the rule “Give nothing, take everything, demand more.” |
