The rise of a more politically and militarily assertive Russia and an economically and institutionally ascendant China may be characterised as the two principal forces challenging the United States in global policymaking. Read Here – The Diplomat
Brexit was the warm-up. With the election of Donald Trump, the populist tide sweeping developed economies has now overtaken the world’s most powerful democracy. What exactly that means for the rest of the world depends upon just how serious the real estate developer and reality TV star was about his campaign pledges. Those ranged from […]
When the Soviet Union collapsed 25 years ago, Russia looked set to become a free-market democracy. Arkady Ostrovsky explains why that did not happen, and how much of it is Mr Putin’s fault. Read Here – The Economist
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been methodically purging his closest and longest-serving advisers. The latest – but surely not the last – victim is Sergei Ivanov, a former KGB operative (like Putin himself) and defense minister who has just been forced out as Kremlin chief of staff. Read Here -Project Syndicate
Détente 2.0 would entail the renunciation, in writing, of NATO’s plans to invite Ukraine and Georgia, coupled with Moscow’s recognition that both countries retain the right to join whatever economic or political union they desire; a draw-down of Russian and NATO forces in the Baltics region; the cancellation of Western sanctions on Russia, and vice […]
The age of Erdoğan, Trump, and Putin, with its representatives’ contempt for rules and norms, is generating serious challenges to global peace and prosperity with alarming frequency. Is there a way forward that doesn’t lead backward? Read Here – Project Syndicate
Markets have soared: the ruble is the best-performing emerging market currency this year, up over 20 percent since late January against the dollar, and equities have posted double-digit gains. Russian markets have benefited from a range of macroeconomic and technical factors—a moderate pickup in oil prices, a search for yield by investors punished by low […]
Two years ago, President Vladimir Putin decided to wait out Western attempts to isolate Russia economically and politically. This year’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum — an annual event informally known as Russia’s Davos — showed that his patience is gradually paying off, but business as usual still isn’t within reach. Read Here – Bloomberg
While the crisis in Ukraine is stuck, recent Russian outreach elsewhere in Europe, including Putin’s Greece trip, has been successful at starting a debate over the utility of sanctions. The public in many European countries remains critical of Moscow, but “business and political elites have increased their interest in cooperating with Russia.” Read Here – […]
If oil prices were Moscow’s top foreign policy priority, the oil-price theory of Russian foreign policy would predict simultaneous efforts to destabilize the region, thereby creating new risks to oil production and putting upward pressure on prices. This is not happening. Read Here – The National Interest
looking beyond borders 