Carnegie Moscow Center
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.
In recent years, Turkey’s foreign policy has undergone a fundamental transformation and the country has begun to play a more aggressive and assertive role.
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 2011 conference focused on new actors and new agendas, reflecting the need to develop cooperative responses to challenges being posed by changing technology, distributions of political power, interest in nuclear energy, and security conditions in key regions.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, but the nature of the organization and its role remain somewhat unclear.
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.
While the United States is an important factor shaping Sino-Indian relations, the role of the United States in relations between China, India, and the countries of Central Asia receives far less attention.