Latest Articles about Russia
Medvedev in Paris: Vive la Georgie, Monsieur?
Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, visited France at the invitation of Emperor Napoleon III in 1867, three years after the Russian army’s bloody suppression of Poland’s revolt for independence. The French emperor, political establishment, and big players on the Paris Bourse were all eager to... MORE
Could a Trip to Paris Re-Energize Medvedev’s “Modernization?”
President Dmitry Medvedev has commenced his state visit to France today, and over the next three days he will receive red carpet treatment and dine in style. There is certainly a rich cultural program marking the officially sponsored “Russian year” in France and an opportunity... MORE
Adriatic Watch: a Must for the European Commission
Croatian Prime Minister, Jadranka Kosor, is expected in Moscow on March 2 for her first official visit (HINA, February 24). Kosor’s talks with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Kremlin-connected energy companies may yield a breakthrough into Croatia’s energy sector. Such a breakthrough could... MORE
French Warship Sale to Russia: Another Symptom of NATO Erosion?
Pierre Lellouche was for many years a staunchly Atlanticist politician in a Gaullist-minded France. Currently serving President Nicolas Sarkozy as his State Secretary for European Affairs, Lellouche follows Sarkozy’s line in defending the French Mistral warship sale to Russia, regardless of its corrosive effects on... MORE
Moscow Finds US Non-Strategic BMD Plans Threatening
Russian officials – the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Defense Minister Army-General Nikolai Makarov – have told journalists that a nuclear arms control agreement to replace the 1991 START treaty that expired on December 5, 2009, “is... MORE
Armored Trains Return to the Russian North Caucasus
A weapon thought by many to belong to military museums is making a return to active anti-insurgency operations in the North Caucasus: the armored train. First used for such purposes in the American Civil War, armored trains and the tactics associated with their use were... MORE
Russian Military Doctrine Looks East
Statements by senior Russian defense officials raise many questions concerning Moscow’s defense posture. The Chief of the General Staff Army-General Nikolai Makarov and the First Deputy Defense Minister Army-General Nikolai Pankov recently chaired a roundtable with Russian journalists in Moscow, devoted to military reform. Noting... MORE
Russia’s Military Doctrine: New Dangers Appear
In the immediate aftermath of President Dmitry Medvedev signing the new Russian military doctrine most attention focused on the fact that a first preemptive nuclear strike was not mentioned in the document and on the attention given to NATO as the chief source of “danger”... MORE
Russian Authorities Threaten BP Assets at Kovykta Project
Russia’s Natural Environment Inspectorate (RosPrirodNadzor) has recommended that BP’s joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP, be stripped of the giant Kovykta natural gas project in eastern Siberia (Interfax, February 19).Located in eastern Siberia’s Irkutsk oblast, the Kovykta field holds an estimated 2 trillion cubic meters of... MORE
Moscow Struggles to Control and Modernize the North Caucasus
On February 16, President Dmitry Medvedev met the President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick. The World Bank’s possible involvement in the development of the North Caucasus became one of the three main topics of their discussion. This may signify a major retreat from the... MORE