Russia

PRAGUE, October 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Some commentators see the latest confrontation between Georgia and Russia as another test of wills between Russia and the United States for influence in what Moscow considers its backyard. RFE/RL correspondent Jeremy Bransten asks Anatol Lieven, a well-known journalist, author and historian of the region currently with the New America Foundation in Washington, for his take on a crisis that has broad regional implications.

RFE/RL: Many Russian analysts portray Mikheil Saakashvili as a U.S.… more

With its sweeping crackdown on Georgia the Kremlin has embarked on its latest campaign to halt Western inroads into what it considers its strategic "backyard," analysts said Wednesday.

As it did several years ago with the Baltic countries, Moscow has again unleashed a torrent of white-hot rhetoric -- President Vladimir Putin warned Georgia Wednesday against "provocation and blackmail" -- backed this time by economic sanctions on Tbilisi.

For Anatol Lieven, an analyst at the Washington-based New America Foundation, the Kremlin's anger at… more

At a dinner for Western experts and journalists on Sept. 9, President Vladimir Putin of Russia issued a stern warning over impending Western moves to grant a form of conditional independence to Kosovo.

He said that Russia would use any such move as a precedent for solutions to the existing "frozen conflicts" in the Georgian autonomous republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These are under de facto Russian military protection, just as Kosovo is under NATO protection.

Georgia’s arrest last week of… more

News stories about Russia these days follow a predictable theme. The country is resurgent and strong, and the West must adjust to this new reality. But that story line is wrong. Russia is weak and getting weaker.

Take the conventional index of power -- military might. Yes, Moscow is testing advanced missiles systems and talks buoyantly about countering a U.S. antiballistic-missile system with a new generation of warheads that can evade interceptors. Yet note the failure earlier this month of the… more

The Bush administration’s imposition of sanctions on two Russian companies this month for selling military technology to Iran certainly sends the Kremlin a message -- but it won’t be the one the White House has in mind. The penalties will only deepen the hostility that Russia’s political establishment feels toward the United States.

That attitude came through loud and clear in many discussions I had with Russian academics, foreign policy specialists and senior officials during a recent… more

Inside the mind of Vladimir Putin:

OK, so the G-8 summit, which I hosted in my hometown of St. Petersburg, wasn't all that successful for Russia. Happily, it was much worse for the United States. George W. Bush came here looking for new allies in his various wars, and found none. Meanwhile, I scoop up allies for the great struggle ahead.

I was disappointed that the Americans blocked Russia's accession into the World Trade Organization. But Bush… more

We turn now to the annual G8 summit that ends today. The summit was held in St. Petersburg Russia over the weekend. Leaders of the world's industrialized nations gathered for their annual meeting where host Russian President Vladimir Putin, had hoped to focus on energy security, fighting infectious disease and education.

But much of the talks centered on the Israeli air strikes in Lebanon. In a statement, G-8 leaders called for the return of the kidnapped soldiers and an end… more

As the world watches the political maneuvering over restarting nuclear talks with Iran -- this time with American participation -- few are paying attention to a broader strategic competition that has started between the United States, Russia and China. Ultimately, this competition will decide not only the direction of Iran's nuclear activities but also its economic, political and military role in the Middle East and beyond. The outcome hinges on which countries will assume dominance in developing Iran's enormous oil… more

If you are a European, there may be many things you can do or say about Russia, but one thing you cannot do is ignore it. In 100 years' time, it may be that the US will take very little interest in what Russia does. That can never be true of those who share the European continent with it.

At present, the internal problems of the European Union have led to Europe essentially tagging along behind US policy,… more