Carnegie Moscow Center
As popular pressure builds in Russia against the political status quo, it is increasingly clear that if the current opportunity to bring the authorities to a real dialogue is lost, Russia may have to wait another generation before another opportunity arises.
The recent rallies in Russian cities may indicate that, twenty years after the dismantlement of the Soviet Union, post-imperial Russia is beginning to emerge as a nation.
Tens of thousands of Russians took to the street in protest over voter fraud allegations in the country’s parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen what this public response and the election results will mean for the country’s future.
As Vladimir Putin and United Russia struggle to retain power, they are facing a new post-Soviet generation that grew up without a deeply ingrained fear of the Kremlin’s power. A confrontation between the ruling authorities and the people may be unavoidable.
On its twentieth anniversary, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program remains an important tool for international cooperation to reduce nuclear dangers, but there remain some tough questions about the continued viability of the model.
As Kazakhstan celebrates its twentieth anniversary of independence, the country faces a number of tough geopolitical, political, economic, and social challenges.
There is a fundamental disconnect between the West and Russia on the issue of missile defense, based on an outdated and incomplete understanding of the strategic environment and each other.
In 1991, Ukrainians had high hopes for a democratic and prosperous future. However, two decades on, the direction their country will take is still far from clear.
Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party received just shy of 50 percent of the vote in the recent elections for Russia’s lower house in parliament, an unexpected blow to the once extremely popular ruler.
The euro crisis has grown too big for Europeans to handle alone. The United States must act to help save the euro—or risk paying a much bigger price if it collapses.
Almost two decades after negotiations began Russia is set to join the World Trade Organization. Russia, the biggest country to enter the WTO since China joined ten years ago, is expected to be confirmed as a member during the ministerial meeting in mid-December.
During the State Duma elections, increasing numbers of people vented their frustration with the ruling regime through protest votes. It is clear that the Russian political system will become more pluralistic.
The recent elections in Russia saw a serious setback for the ruling United Russia party, reflecting the growing discontent of the country’s citizens.
When Russians vote for the State Duma on December 4, the economy will be the critical issue for voters in a country still struggling to fully recover from the financial crisis.
Legacies of the Soviet era still pervade Kazakhstan, 20 years after independence, and leave most citizens unable to offer a detached judgment of what benefits Kazakhstan might have derived from seven decades of Soviet rule.
Russia is the world’s biggest hydrocarbon producer, and China is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing energy markets. The two are neighbors, yet their energy relationship is very thin. Instead, they compete for vast and largely unexplored Central Asian resources.
The North Caucasus remains economically and politically a part of Russia, but the internal situation there is increasingly regulated by the region’s own local traditions.
It will be increasingly difficult for EU leaders and bureaucrats to continue supporting Vladimir Putin, with the European public opinion growing worried over the situation in Russia and critical of the policy of “pragmatic realism.”
Missile defense continues to be a potential game changer in the often strained strategic relationship between Washington and Moscow.
If Russia can create the right incentives for cutting energy consumption, it has the opportunity to become a leader in energy efficiency in the coming decade.