Carnegie Moscow Center
Putin’s surprising decision to skip the G8 summit means that he is putting the stability of his power structure above his diplomatic engagements abroad.
The Russian empire is over, but the belief that Russia is finished as a serious global player might be premature. Today, Russia’s goals include modernizing, creating a nation-state, and finding the country’s new role in the world.
Dmitry Medvedev’s four years of presidency were a missed opportunity in terms of modernizing the country. His most important achievements were in foreign policy, not in domestic policy.
While developing its Asian strategy, Russia will certainly give a lot of attention to cooperation with China, but it will not ignore its interests and opportunities in other countries in the region.
The chief goals of U.S.-Russian relations should be developing engagement, building trust, and transforming the nature of the strategic relationship.
An inclusive security community in the Euro-Atlantic and stable peace in the region depends on a positive transformation of U.S.-Russian relations and historical reconciliation between Russia and a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is most likely looking to persuade Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to leave power and prevent a collapse of the Syrian state and civil war.
Today, Russia is peripheral to many of the major conflicts in the world. While this gives Moscow an opportunity to take care of its own affairs, Russia also needs to define and fulfill its new international role.
While Vladimir Putin’s election to the presidency should not change the course of Russia’s foreign policy, his fate will largely depend on his government’s socio-economic and political performance.
Following the Duma election in December, the political situation in Russia changed fundamentally. Social activity has sharply increased, and the new Russian middle class has awakened.