Carnegie Moscow Center
With emerging powers such as China, India, and Brazil capturing the limelight at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine seemed to have little to share with the world and even less to learn from it.
Russia’s supply of natural gas could hold the answer to Europe’s energy challenge, but a successful partnership between Russia and Europe will require greater mutual trust.
Confronting the global challenges in 2011, from the ongoing war in Afghanistan and a rising China to continuing international economic turmoil, will require an understanding how much has changed and the extent to which the center of gravity in global power has shifted.
Russia, the world’s largest oil producer, is vigorously promoting the development of new outlets for oil exports, an initiative that will have considerable policy and economic implications for Eastern and Central Europe and even the United States.
The civil nuclear cooperation deal, or 123 agreement, will greatly improve the ability of both Russia and the United States to prevent proliferation and it will advance mutual interests, improve relations, and deliver on the promise of the reset.
The main political issue facing Turkey in the Black Sea region is how to guarantee political and military security in the area as Ankara positions itself as a key regional actor and independent center of power.
Consumption of natural gas is growing rapidly and now accounts for nearly one-quarter of the world’s energy supply. While natural gas is relatively clean compared to crude oil and coal, its ability to assume a greater role in meeting the world’s growing energy demands will depend largely on price.
In an increasingly globalized gas market, what happens in Europe will have broad implications for global energy markets and how gas markets evolve is also essential for energy security and meeting carbon emission targets.
Good relations between Russia and China, promoted by economic and political cooperation, are one of the major and most valued aspects of Moscow's current foreign policy.
As the melting Arctic ice cap opens new shipping lanes and makes it easier to access strategic energy reserves, countries are racing to gain control over the Arctic’s abundant natural resources.