Latest Articles about Russia
Guest Commentary: Russian “Security Net” Must Not Be Abandoned
In December 2008, when these lines were written, it was difficult to understand the prospects of the world and domestic financial-economic crisis. For Russia, however, the current turbulence may be useful, because it offers a good pretext for changing many elements of social policy to... MORE
Russia Suspected of Trying to Take over Ukraine’s Gas Transit Network
Russia was supposed to resume pumping gas to the EU through Ukraine on January 13 following trilateral Moscow-Kyiv-Brussels talks, but the Russia-Ukraine gas row is far from over. Neither the issue of Kyiv’s debts, the very existence of which Ukraine denies, nor the conditions of... MORE
Russia’s Gas Disinformation Game
Disinformation operations, as every former KGB operative knows, can be an invaluable tool in winning a war. “Deza,” as it is called by the old boys who once worked on Dzerzhinsky Square in Moscow, is an art meant to be used carefully by professionals; otherwise... MORE
Russia Hiding Gas Shortfall by Touting Multiple Export Routes
Russia is using the gas supply crisis, which it has itself triggered, to induce a contest among consumer countries over imports of Russian natural gas. Russian-produced gas has become a commodity in short supply when measured against Russia’s internal requirements and its existing export commitments.... MORE
A War Like No Other: Putin Mishandles Another Gas Conflict
Two weeks after the traditional turn of the valve in the first minute of the new year, the disagreement between Russia and Ukraine over the trade and transit of natural gas is still not resolved, and it is not only the duration that makes this... MORE
Spain Extradites Chechen Terror Suspect
On New Year’s Eve, Spain extradited to Russia a Chechen accused of involvement in the June 2004 rebel attacks on the Ingush Interior Ministry building and other installations in Nazran. The BBC quoted the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office as saying that Murat Gasaev had been... MORE
Uncertain German Perspectives on Energy Relations with Russia
Beyond the energy sector itself, natural gas induces structural dependency at the macroeconomic level. The pipeline mode of delivery is based on long-term contracts, locking in the predominant share of the German market for Russia. The spot market for natural gas, which could provide an... MORE
Germany Vulnerable to Russian Energy Supply Manipulations
Russia’s halt of gas deliveries via Ukraine to Europe in mid-winter underscores Germany’s dilemmas on energy security and policy. Those dilemmas are largely unnecessary and even self-inflicted. The country has allowed itself to drift—and to some extent be maneuvered—into a situation of overdependence on Russian... MORE
The Kremlin Reacts to Systemic Crisis with Plans to Beat Up the People and Arrest Dissidents
"A Happy New 1937 [the peak of Stalin's Great Terror] to you," Moscow wits quipped on January 1, 2009, while the Putin regime, frightened and incompetent in the face of a mounting systemic crisis, prepared to lock up protesters and squash mass protests with crude... MORE
The Middle East—A Bridge Too Far for Moscow Today
During the Cold War, the Middle East was the theater of East-West confrontation, of proxy wars in which Moscow and Washington battled for influence in this strategic region. Today in Moscow, there are high-placed diplomats, arms traders, and security officials with old-time connections in traditionally... MORE