Russo-Japanese relations appear to have digressed back to the zero-sum, tit-for-tat, tenor that defined the relationship throughout the Cold War. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced on Thursday, March 10, that he would not attend the VE- Day celebrations to be held in Moscow this... MORE

Russia's nuclear policy has once again become the stuff of controversy. On the one hand, domestic right-wingers, darkly suspicious of rumored U.S.-Russian agreements to put Russia's nuclear arsenal under some form of American supervision or control, are attacking the regime for selling out Russian sovereignty... MORE

March 8 is an official holiday in Russia to mark International Women's Day. It is one of the most popular holidays on the calendar, with men buying flowers and chocolates for the "fairer sex" and doing some symbolic cooking and cleaning. Although Valentine's Day has... MORE

Unified Energy Systems, the Russian electricity giant, has pledged to capitalize on China's fast growing energy needs by exporting Siberian electricity to China. In the meantime, Russia's pro-active approach to energy projects in Central Asia has begun to take on geopolitical dimensions. UES says its... MORE

By all accounts, events in the Middle East are moving in a direction that could lead to significant breakthroughs in Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel-Palestinian relations. Yet Moscow, while claiming support for them, seems eager to undermine these moves toward peace and democracy in order to... MORE

A specter is haunting Russia's political class -- the specter of Ukraine's Orange Revolution. The Putinists seem hell-bent on preventing any repetition of Ukrainian or Georgian events in Russia. On March 1, the pro-Putin youth movement Walking Together announced that it "had launched a new... MORE

Russian officials have hailed Moscow's announcement of a potentially historic deal with Iran, concerning its continued involvement in developing the nuclear power facility at Bushehr, as a breakthrough. Alexander Maryasov, Russia's ambassador to Iran, believes it removes all concerns about the possibility of Tehran utilizing... MORE

Russia's position on Iran, as presented by President Vladimir Putin to President George W. Bush in Bratislava and by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the EU "troika" in Luxembourg, is crystal clear and rock solid. Their nuclear cooperation is strictly commercial and has absolutely no... MORE

The economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States have seen five years of steady growth and low inflation, a welcome contrast to the economic slump and financial instability of the early 1990s. They have also managed to shift their trade patterns away from their former... MORE

Despite U.S. opposition, the European Union is proceeding with plans to lift the arms embargo against China by June 2005. The ban had been imposed following the June 1989 crackdown on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square. Beijing is looking for alternative sources for the arms... MORE