In foreign policy matters, on the other hand, over the past fortnight Putin appeared to come up roses at every turn. He followed summit talks in China and a groundbreaking visit to North Korea with a performance at the summit of Group of Seven countries... MORE

The aspect of Putin's performance in Okinawa which won the most praise from G-7 leaders was the Russian leader's description of his July 19-20 visit to North Korea. Yet he apparently failed to provide key details of what was perceived to be the central accomplishment... MORE

"If the effort to rally support from Beijing and Pyongyang against U.S. NMD represented one key aim of Russian foreign policy over the past fortnight, then an apparent attempt to counter Washington by backing the ambitions of so-called "rogue" states represented the other. Russian initiatives... MORE

On July 29 in Minsk, the national-democratic opposition held a General Belarusan Congress and adopted an Independence Act. The country's best-known literary authors--including Vasyl Bykau, Ryhor Baradulin, Yanka Brill, Henadz Buravkin and Nil Hylevich--had initiated this congress. Some 1,400 delegates, most of them elected at... MORE

On July 29 in Moscow, Russia and Georgia held the "third" round in what is only the latest series of negotiations on troop withdrawal. The session resulted in some limited progress, though the Russian side promptly raised a big question mark over some of that... MORE

On July 21, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's office announced that he had signed the law adopted on June 27 by the parliament, conferring a lifetime political role on Nazarbaev. The law had required the president's signature to go into effect. Nazarbaev acted one day after... MORE

The past fortnight was a frenetic one for Russia's foreign and security policy elites, as the Kremlin unveiled a new Foreign Policy Concept and Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked on high-profile visits to China and North Korea. The visits were the culmination of a roughly... MORE

On July 10, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov presented the text of a long-awaited Foreign Policy Concept. The roughly twenty-page document, which was signed by Putin on June 28 and replaces a 1993 concept paper, is a blueprint of foreign policy goals and priorities ostensibly... MORE

In reviewing the concept, some commentators suggested that it reflects a new Russian emphasis on promoting ties with Asia over those with the West. Although that interpretation seems to be mistaken--the concept appears to give roughly equal weight to Russia's relations with Europe, the United... MORE

Missile defense was also to some extent involved in the ugly row which erupted publicly on July 12 between Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev and General Staff Chief Anatoly Kvashnin. The struggle centered on Kvashnin's call to radically restructure Russia's armed forces--which would involve liquidating... MORE