Carnegie Moscow Center
Given Moldova’s economic potential and political openness, the United States, the European Union, and Russia can play a significant role in aiding Moldova on the path to EU membership and helping to transform the country into a prosperous pluralistic democratic state.
If Russia wants to be a principal security provider and peace guarantor in the CIS space, it will need to refocus its strategy away from resisting NATO's drive and U.S. deployments and toward conflict prevention and conflict resolution.
Resolving the conflict over Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdnestr would have wide-reaching positive implications for Russia, the EU, and the United States, but this opportunity will be lost if the issue is not addressed in the near future.
The Russian government’s drive to modernize its economy is increasingly reflected in its foreign policy priorities, including its relations with the United States, Europe, and China and its position on Iran's nuclear program.
The Hague ruling on Kosovo's independence indirectly strengthens the position of other self-proclaimed states—from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to Nagorno-Karabakh and North Cyprus. However, legal rulings do not negate the need to find a political solution.
The need for a strong relationship between Moscow and Brussels is clear, but Europe faces administrative and political barriers to a common policy on Russia and Russia remains unwilling to undertake the reforms that would make it more compatible with the EU.
In his first 100 days in office, Ukrainian President Yanukovych has set a positive new tone in his country's relations with Russia and reaffirmed Ukraine’s strategic orientation towards Europe.
Lifting visa requirements on travel from Russia to the European Union is likely to bring Russian citizens further into the institutional, normative, and cultural pathways of Europe.
Neither the expansion of NATO—even if Russia is added—nor the European security pact proposed by Medvedev alone are capable of uniting Europe. What is needed is the creation of a common security zone encompassing all of these states in which war and the use of armed forces would be abolished.
The tragic death of the Polish president might give Poland and Russia a chance to move beyond their historical animosity, but it will still take hard effort on both sides to break away from the past and at long last come to terms with each other.