Carnegie Moscow Center
It is unlikely that nuclear weapons proliferation in South Asia will lead to a deliberate outbreak of large-scale war, but a catastrophic conflict could occur even though neither the Indians nor the Pakistanis intend to start a nuclear war.
China and Russia share significant common ground on a number of issues, but a number of concerns still shape Sino-Russian bilateral relations.
The realization that both the United States and the Soviet Union shared an interest in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons led to a 1968 agreement that existing nuclear weapons states would work toward nuclear zero if other states agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.
Moscow needs to drop the notion of creating an exclusive power center in the post-Soviet space. Like other former European empires, Russia has no choice but to reinvent itself as a global player and as part of a wider community.
Russia’s recovery from the global economic crisis has been slow, constrained by a number of economic and political structural problems. Until they are resolved, these issues will continue to hinder Russia’s development.
While there has been a reawakening of sorts between Russia and Ukraine, relations between the two remain essentially unbalanced and tensions over gas disputes and trade are likely to continue to undermine bilateral relations.
With the bureaucratic infrastructure for solid bilateral relations between China and Russia already in place, the next step is increased dialogue between the countries’ intellectuals, who can examine the relationship from a broader perspective.
Too often, debate on the relationship between Europe and Russia is driven by events—including elections, changes in leadership, and summits—which may provide important policy openings but do not always allow for thoughtful consideration of the long-term factors that shape the relationship.
High oil prices and heightened safety concerns for nuclear energy in the aftermath of Japan’s crisis have put natural gas front and center in the energy picture.
Nearly two years after Russia and Turkey signed a series of energy cooperation protocols, the two countries remain unable to reach a breakthrough in their energy relations.