Russia and China have been slowly enhancing their partnership for decades. Years of public diplomacy initiatives and trust building exercises have helped create a relatively positive image of China in Russia. At a time when the Kremlin-controlled media’s anti-Western rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, average Russian citizens are more open to China than ever […]
It looks like a new Cold War between Russia and the West is inevitable, even if the conflict in Ukraine remains “frozen” in its current form until at least this summer. It became clear one year ago with the annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in eastern Ukraine that Russia’s relations with Europe — and especially with the United States — would not remain the same as before. […]
Russia doesn’t just need petroleum to fuel its tanks and planes, but to pay for them as well. Because oil and gas revenues comprise half the federal budget, defense spending is tethered to energy prices. Read Here – Moscow Times
America should think twice about arming Ukraine as Russia could easily help China achieve its dreams in the South China Sea. Read Here – National Interest
For most of the West, Vladimir Putin is a bogeyman. His love affair with the thuggish separatists in eastern Ukraine has blotched his image across the democratic world. In November, he had to slink away prematurely from the G20 Summit in Australia after he was snubbed by just about every leader who counted. Yet the reception […]
Reliance on soft power requires measured patience. Nations want their own way, and the world has seen a marked resurgence in use of hard power. The United States intervenes in Iraq and Syria; Russia has annexed Crimea and encourages rebels in eastern Ukraine, while China asserts broad territorial claims in the East and South China […]
As anti-government protests escalated in Ukraine in February, activists took to Facebook and Twitter to popularize a name for the revolutionary movement. They called it “Euromaidan,” after the pro-European bent of the demonstrators and the central square in the capital where they were massing. Read Here – The Atlantic
Vladimir Zhirinovsky often speaks truth to power. His recent initiative to dispense with direct presidential elections and anoint Vladimir Putin the country’s supreme leader for life is not without merits. It could be an improvement over what we have today. Read Here – Moscow Times
After six years in office, Obama broadcasts his world-weariness with wan gestures and pauses, with loose moments in the White House press room. The world has stubbornly denied him his ambition to transcend its cruelties, pivot smartly to the East, and “do some nation-building here at home.” Obama’s halting cool at the lectern now reads […]
PRESIDENT BARACK Obama likes to say that America and the world have progressed beyond the unpleasantness of the nineteenth century and, for that matter, much of the rest of human history. He could not be more wrong. And as a result, he is well on the way to repeating some of history’s most dangerous mistakes. […]
looking beyond borders 