|
| Containing Russia: Back to the Future? |
Sergei Lavrov
The experience of recent years has amply demonstrated that no single
state or group of states has enough resources for imposing unipolarity.
This allegedly constructive simplification of interstate relations, based on a vertical hierarchy – however attractive this may seem – is utterly unrealistic. Unipolarity, quite simply, is an encroachment on God’s prerogatives. |
| A New Epoch of Confrontation |
Sergei Karaganov
Many analysts in Moscow argue that the political and propaganda pressure being exerted by the West on Russia is the result of Russia’s growth. But this Western pressure is more of a counterattack against Russia than a direct attack, intended to prevent a further weakening of the West’s positions and possibly win them back. This counterattack is an important constituent feature of a "New Epoch of Confrontation." |
| Hans Blix: "Generals Don’t Understand Psychology At All" |
Fyodor Lukianov
If Russia really wants to move toward Greater Europe, this cannot be achieved without ensuring a certain level of rights and freedoms of the individual. It is time to depart from traditions of a state dominated by the KGB or the FSB – depart gradually, step by step. There should be no illusion that this can be done quickly and easily, but this line should be maintained. |
| Russia and Israel: A Romance Aborted? |
Alek D. Epstein
Israel regards Russia’s cooperation with Syria and Iran as an indicator of the Kremlin’s willingness to regain the previously lost status of a great power in the Middle East. It hopes to achieve this, Israel believes, by replaying a system of relationships that existed before Gorbachev’s perestroika. |
| Imaginary Contradiction |
Tigran Torosyan
The principles of the Helsinki Final Act on the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity indicate beyond doubt that these principles are applicable to relations between states, while the principle of the right to self-determination applies to relations between a state and a self-determining entity that exists within its borders. |
|
|
