Carnegie Moscow Center
Every week a selection of leading experts answer a new question from Judy Dempsey on the foreign and security policy challenges shaping Europe’s role in the world.
As the focus is all on Putin's effort to reshape his neighborhood this week, a Kazakh and a Belarusian silence is an awkward reminder that the Eurasian Union was supposed to be a collaborative project and that the more Putin grabs the headlines, the less that is the case.
The question of whether a government can and should enforce rules about personal morality is at the center of current political arguments in Turkey and the outcome of this dispute will determine the future direction of the country.
The agreement on Syria between Russia and the United States turned out to be insufficient. A broader compromise is required to resolve the crisis, particularly between the warring sides in Syria.
India would be able to make an important contribution to the resolution of the Syrian crisis.
After years of strife, agreement seems possible on Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s civil war. The key is highly pragmatic cooperation based on national interests.
The situation in Asia-Pacific will not allow an easy establishment of a solid international security arrangement.
The nomination of Mullah Fazlullah as the new head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) does not seem to dramatically change prospects for an agreement between the TTP and Islamabad. Yet if signed, this agreement will not be able to stop violence in the tribal area of Pakistan and neighbor regions.
Introducing visas and closing borders with Central Asian countries should not be the first steps in solving the problem of ethnic hatred in Russia. Instead, there should come a transformation of the entire Russian state, a regime change, and a resolution of the problem of the North Caucasus.
The impact of Pakistan on the situation in Afghanistan is seriously overestimated. Current problems and future risks will not allow Pakistan even to think about the decisive influence in Afghanistan.