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Sections 1-2-3 (Foreign Policy Concept)Unfortunately, the new Foreign Policy Concept appears to share, along with the other two documents, a blurring of priorities and an absence of conciseness which suggests the document was drafted as much to satisfy a host of different constituencies as to provide a realistic guide to action.In reviewing the concept, some commentators suggested that it reflects a new Russian emphasis on promoting ties with Asia over those with the West.Sections 4-5-6 (oligarchs … etc)Even the Alfa Group, run by Pyotr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, two oligarchs once thought to be favored by Putin, complained that they had been under surveillance since July.”Some oligarchs are rubbing out others,” LUKoil vice president Leonid Fedun pithily asserted in an interview with Financial Times.Section 7 (Belarus)Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin seems, thus far, guided only by the goal of catering to the Belarusan ruler.Section 8 (Krygyzstan terrorists)The minister pronounced the ten guilty of conspiring not only to separate the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region from China by force, but also to “subvert the governments of other ‘Shanghai Five’ countries.”The timing of Bishkek’s announcement made it look like a gift to China.

“The Fortnight in Review” is prepared by senior analysts Jonas Bernstein (Russia), Stephen Foye (Security and Foreign Policy), and Vladimir Socor (Non-Russian republics). Editor, Stephen Foye. If you would like information on subscribing to the Monitor, or have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us by e-mail at pubs@jamestown.org, by fax at 301-562-8021, or by postal mail at The Jamestown Foundation, 4526 43rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20016. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of “The Fortnight in Review” is strictly prohibited by law. Copyright (c) 1983-2002 The Jamestown Foundation