Carnegie Moscow Center
While China’s new aircraft carrier does not pose a major threat to U.S. forces or allies in the Western Pacific, the United States needs to take steps to communicate this message of reassurance to countries in the region.
The Arab revolts are pushing Western governments to reject a pragmatic approach to foreign relations in favor of support for democratic values and human rights, with potentially significant effects on Russia’s relations with the West.
The most likely reason that Russians have not risen up in a revolution like the people in Egypt is not the Kremlin’s tight grip on power, but rather the fact that there is no widespread popular demand for democracy in Russia.
Moscow's position on military intervention in Libya plays into Russia's foreign policy focus on modernization and cooperation with Western Europe and the United States and is likely to be a factor in the upcoming 2012 presidential elections.
Russia’s decision to abstain on the UN Security Council resolution on Libya marked a new milestone in the evolution of Moscow’s foreign policy toward a more pragmatic approach.
The feelings of optimism and hope that accompanied the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions have recently been mixed with concern over the course of events in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and other countries.
Russia’s choice to abstain on the UN Security Council resolution on Libya demonstrates that Moscow’s new foreign policy is shaped by its vital interests and its desire to maintain good relations with both the EU and the United States.
The launch of U.S. and European military operations against Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi could have unexpected consequences and encourage some regimes to step up their efforts to develop a weapons arsenal in order to prevent the possibility of outside attack.
Japan has been hit by the most powerful earthquake in recorded history and many countries, including Russia, have offered assistance. Russia should give Japan all the help it needs during this terrifying experience.
While the wave of political change sweeping through the Arab world is reminiscent of the political upheaval in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, historical analogies cannot capture the complex and dramatic events occurring or predict how this change will end.