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28 march 2016
Russia’s Policy on Syria after the Start of Military Engagement
In the fall of 2015, Russia resolved to raise the stakes in Syria by launching an air campaign at the request of Damascus.
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21 march 2016
Why Putin’s Policy in Syria Has Laid the Groundwork for a Political Settlement
President Putin's decision to start pulling Russian troops out of Syria made headlines around the world this week. But if one recalls official statements at the start of the operation and after it was in full force, the decision was to be expected.
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14 march 2016
The Middle East: from conflicts to stability
Material for discussion at the middle east dialogue of the Valdai discussion club, Moscow, February 25-26, 2016
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13 february 2016
Fragile Central Asia
The assistance of great powers is a major resource in the struggle against the growing threat of radical Islamism in Central Asia. In this context special credit goes to Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization as the main mechanism for protecting the region against possible invasions from Afghanistan and potential ISIS expansion.
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13 february 2016
The Network and Governance
Information underpins global economic growth and opportunity. It both rides on, and fuels, the growth of the Network (the Internet, social media, and all digital information devices). That is why it is so important to make the Network, and the world it intermediates, safer and more secure.
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13 february 2016
Intelligence Against Sanctions
Industrial espionage is capable of making up—promptly and at a relatively low cost—for the shortage of some components critically important for developing a certain industry. But as soon as the state begins to use industrial espionage systematically, this “remedy” instantly turns into a killer drug.
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13 february 2016
2015: Global Tendencies and Russian Policies
The Russian elite have realized that the country will have to live in a new reality that differs from the past rosy dreams of integration with the West, while preserving its independence and sovereignty. Yet they have not yet used the confrontation and the growth of patriotism for an economic revival.
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10 february 2016
War and Peace in the 21st Century. International Stability and Balance of the New Type
Valdai Discussion Club Report
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1 february 2016
Central Asia: Secular Statehood Challenged by Radical Islam
Today post-Soviet Central Asian countries are facing problems caused by old security challenges and the emergence of completely new threats. These threats may influence the prospects of secular statehood in the region. This is a serious obstacle to modernization.
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15 december 2015
Russophobia as a Form of Brainwashing
One can find too much proof of Russophobia in mainstream Western media that prevents straight thinking. It is not about the winning the war on terror or containing the climate change, it is about the winning the war against Russia.
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12 december 2015
The Inevitability of Fight
“Fifty years ago the streets of Leningrad taught me a lesson: if a fight is inevitable, hit first.” These words by Vladimir Putin have become a most quoted phrase of the past fall. Said at the Valdai International Discussion Club, it unambiguously conveys the underlying principle of Russia’s current foreign policy.
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25 november 2015
After Sukhoi crash: a bloc or a coalition dilemma
The Syrian crisis has deteriorated dramatically, moving from armed struggle mostly against non-state, and therefore barely identifiable, groups to a direct clash between major military powers.
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20 november 2015
No longer any excuse for disunity after terrorist attacks
The recent series of terrorist attacks in France has forced Russia and the West to recognize the undeniable fact that there is a common enemy – international terrorism, represented first and foremost by ISIS.
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16 november 2015
Paris Events Will Further Tighten the Middle East Knot
The attacks will almost inevitably lead to an escalation of war in Iraq and Syria, as well as to changes in the balance of forces in the Middle East as a whole.
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11 november 2015
Why Russia and the West won't be teaming up against ISIS anytime soon
Russia and the West fundamentally differ in their interpretations and responses to the crash of a Russian civilian airliner in Egypt. As a result, they are losing another opportunity to unite against the global threat posed by ISIS.
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5 november 2015
7 trends for Russian foreign policy you need to know
After the Ukraine crisis and military intervention in Syria, the key principles and ideas underpinning Russian foreign policy are becoming easier to understand.
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27 october 2015
Discipline and Punish Again? Another Edition of Police State or Back to the Middle Ages
In the recent years, a trend towards a narrowing of the sphere of individual freedoms has been observed throughout the world. At the same time, we see the expansion of sovereign freedoms — the sphere where government allows itself to interfere with a citizen’s private life.
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16 october 2015
Despite airstrikes, is Russia still working toward political solution in Syria?
Russia appears to be considering various political resolutions to the Syrian crisis, possibly including one without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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12 october 2015
Russians in Syria: Fervour After Syndrome
The Russian operation in Syria is an indisputable milestone in the country's political development. For the first time in over a quarter of a century, the Kremlin is officially conducting a high-scale military operation abroad, motivated not by peacekeeping and "peace enforcement", but by strategic reasons.
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15 july 2015
Middle East Crisis: Foreign Interference and an Orgy of Extremism
The Middle East is one of the most turbulent regions in the world today, engulfed by a wave of conflict and violence that threatens international security.
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10 july 2015
Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Looking for a New Role
The SCO is essentially a regional cooperative association, and as such it is often perceived as a potential center of the burgeoning multipolar world, capable of providing an alternative – or a counterbalance – to the US and its allies.
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19 june 2015
Worlds Apart?
Theoretically, a convergence of Russia’s and the U.S.’s vital interests may pave the way to mending fences between the two countries, with joint counteraction to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda being the most evident opportunity to start such a rapprochement.
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18 january 2015
Charlie and Theo
(1)The Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a Muslim extremist in Amsterdam a little more than ten years ago, had much in common with the satirists of Charlie Hebdo
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18 december 2014
Tenuous Wariness
Central Asian countries should be prepared for any scenario and should try to prevent the most dangerous upheavals in Afghanistan. In particular, they can strengthen their own defense capabilities and establish close cooperation with Kabul to combat regional terrorism.
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8 january 2014
Russia's Syria policy linked to Chechnya, terrorism
Significant terrorist acts in Russia and the United States usually have the same effect. The same thing happened as recently as last spring, after the terrorist attack in Boston, as a trail was found leading back to the Caucasus.
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26 april 2013
Russia, The US and Syria After the Boston Bombing
Russia’s differences with Western countries and the US on the Syrian question, for example, are conceptual in nature.
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20 december 2012
To Govern, Not to Act
Political power was the focus of 2012. Three of the world’s most powerful countries underwent a change in government.
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13 september 2012
How the Arab Spring Muddied Post-9/11 Clarity
Last Tuesday, September 11, while the United States was commemorating the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, anti-American demonstrations erupted at U.S. consulates in Libya and Egypt.
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29 december 2011
The Cold War and the Post-Cold War World
Rather than a future in which Chinese hegemony will replace that of the United States, we seem to be rapidly entering a world in which no country will exercise anything resembling true world leadership. This bears a sinister resemblance to the 1920s, when the United States replaced Britain as the world’s leading economic power, but was wholly unwilling to shoulder additional burdens of global leadership.
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9 september 2011
The opportunity that wasn’t
The 9/11 tragedy was an opportunity for Russia and the United States to significantly improve relations. But was there ever such an opportunity?
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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
(1185)
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.