Charles Rizk, Daily Star
Ulrich Speck, IP Journal
Martin Gilman, Moscow Times
Robert Merry, The National Interest
Jonathan Steele, The Guardian

China, Russia and Iran support for Bashar Assad makes a Western military intervention in Syria impossible, given the likely catastrophic repercussions for all concerned. In the e...(full article)

Germany has had enormous luck over the last few decades: the conditions for its success were essentially guaranteed by others. Relying on this lucky streak to continue would be r...(full article)

A longstanding platitude shared by both the Kremlin as well as domestic and foreign analysts is the need for Russia to diversify its economy away from energy dependence and reduce ...(full article)

There are many reasons to lament the wary state of relations between the United States and Russia—and between President Obama and Russian president Putin—but the most gnawing ...(full article)

Talks with the Taliban and a ceasefire are vital prerequisites to any dignified withdrawal....(full article)
Historically naval exercises have sometimes played a key role in diplomatic signaling. One can only look back at the Franco-Russian naval exercises in 1891-92, which portended the...
America's missile-defence plans are aimed at Iran, not Russia. But they are also a token of transatlantic seriousness about Europe. Any suggestion of making them a bargaining chi...
The narrative that U.S.-Russian relations are set on a downward path with the return of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin has received a major shot in the arm with th...
Russia's leaders have been disgracefully cynical throughout the Syrian uprising. They have armed and supported President Bashar Al-Assad's regime, and they provide diplomatic cover...
To Iran, this is all welcome news: The international alliance against its nuclear program is losing focus and may unravel. Almost certainly, there will be no further sanctions, and...
Putin wants to avoid uncomfortable and unpleasant questions that may be raised by journalists and some participants, such as electoral fraud in recent elections, Magnitsky blacklis...
The presidents of Russia and Ukraine have met for the first time since Vladimir Putin’s re-election. This is a strange period in bilateral relations: nothing seems to be happ...
After Moscow's large protests on May 6 and the following days, we can easily dispel two widely held opinions — that the protest movement had fizzled out and that Putin had overc...
In late February of 2002, the New York Times reported on the creation of the NATO-Russia Council, with officials heralding a new era of cooperation and trust between Putin’s ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to skip both the G-8 and the NATO summits this month suggests he plans to delegate relations with the West as much as possible to his ...
At first blush, the NATO summit to be held in Chicago this weekend has an ambitious and exhaustive agenda, which includes everything from the effects of government financial...
Alexis de Tocqueville famously predicted that Russia and the United States would one day dominate the world. He didn’t predict we would become friends doing it. But anyone ...
Russia's basic Middle East policies won't change, nor will Israel exchange its alliance with the United States for one with Russia....
President Barack Obama ran as the anti-George Bush candidate. So it is ironic that his signature achievement overseas - the killing of Osama bin Laden - is one Bush would have b...
Viktor Yanukovych deserves no reward for his heavy-handed rule as president of Ukraine. His term has brought increasing corruption, a concentration of power in the presidency and...
The Duma's confirmation of Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister on 8 May, a day after Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president, marked the completion of their long-anticipated role ...
American cuisine is becoming more and more popular in Moscow, with burgers, cupcakes and New York-style pizza taking over the cosmopolitan restaurant scene. A good example of thi...
Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin, has recognized that he does not belong at the G-8 summit. The G-7 should take him at his word. U.S. President Barack Obama needs to face up ...
It's becoming clear that President Obama regards Vladimir Putin as a prime partner for a second-term foreign policy. The problem is that Putin is refusing to play his part....
Historians have long noted a characteristic feature of Russian history: Sometimes development seems to freeze for many years and almost comes to a standstill, only to suddenly surg...
The night after Vladimir Putin was inaugurated for his third term as president, a trio of brothers sat down in a smoky piano bar to discuss the politician’s return. Co-host...
Russia's strong-willed leader is back for a third term as president. And as long as Mitt Romney cools the "number one geopolitical foe" talk, we'll be just fine...
In the lead-up to his inauguration for a third term as Russia’s President, riot police raided cafés, and grabbed people off the streets – even merely for sportin...
Over the past couple of days, I've been asked many times, by people from around the world, how I came to take a photo of the boy on a bike with training wheels, facing a row of R...
The dream of a shield against nuclear bombs has been around since the earliest days of the nuclear age. The idea has always been deceptively simple: Build missiles that can shoot d...
The race for oil in the Arctic is on. As the polar ice cap retreats, energy companies are looking north for a potentially huge new source of crude supply. In April, Exxon Mobil (...
The election of François Hollande as president of France on Sunday and the inauguration of Vladimir Putin as Russia’s “new-old” president on Monday present the Obama admini...
The brutality used by police to detain protesters at Sunday's rally — sealing off Bolotnaya Ploshchad where protesters had a right to gather before beating women with batons and...
Yes, Putin and Medvedev can talk big when it comes to democracy. But for the sake of democracy, Russia and their own legacies, they must walk the talk. Actions must follow their wo...
The Russian political circus has extended its tour. Four years ago, Dmitry Medvedev was chosen to keep warm the seat of Vladimir Putin, and now as Putin returns to the presidency,...
The president is yesterday's man to the country's young people who are disillusioned with the political corruption and mismanaged economy....
Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to a third term as Russia’s president today, after a first-round victory in March elections, shows he is both shrewd and skillful. He is also ver...
One of Vladimir Putin's predecessors is so close to his heart that he compelled his squad of ministers to donate a month's pay for a memorial in his honor. The monument to Pyotr S...
Few in Washington take Makarov's or Medvedev's 'last Chinese warnings' seriously, if for no other reason than everyone - including among Russia's leaders and top brass - understa...
Russia's main goal regarding Europe is to keep European powers divided while extracting what Moscow wants financially and technologically. The days have passed when Putin could c...
An examination of Russia's opposition....
Russia's former world chess champion was supposed to defeat Putin--but now the former prime minister has slithered his way into office again. Does Kasparov have a move left to play...
On Monday, just before noon, Vladimir Putin will get into a black limousine with black windows, and, flanked by a flock of cops on motorcycles -- his cavalry -- sweep into the city...
Just four years ago, the Western press commonly touted Russia's state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom as Vladimir Putin's premier instrument of power. Indeed, the $160 billion firm...
Our research on the successful economies of the past 30 years shows that high growth is not dependent on whether a political system is democratic or authoritarian. What matters are...
On the face of it, he is well placed to make one. The new Duma is structured for subservience, the Russian economy is doing pretty well, and the protest movement has lost the momen...
In the short term, Russia's most serious risk stems from a near-fatal dependence on the price of oil. Twelve years of Putinism have moved Russia perilously close to being a petrost...
In the post-Soviet age, Russia has relied on military muscle and energy dominance to help it achieve its foreign policy goals. Soft power, meanwhile, is something that has a...
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated last Friday that the crisis in Syria was impossible to settle if the international community ignored the positions of Russia and China...
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran and world powers agreed to meet again next month to try to ease the long st...
The U.N. atomic agency has found evidence at an underground bunker in Iran that could mean the count...
Four Russian bikers who were arrested in Iraq last weekend and complained of beatings by security fo...
Russia on Friday called the latest round of talks on the Iranian nuclear standoff "constructive...
A memorable melody. Distinctive stage presence. Some horse-trading of votes....
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