Carnegie Moscow Center
President Obama should assess whether any other leaders of major countries are seriously prepared to pursue a nuclear-weapon-free world. If some are, he should invite them to join him in detailing a ten-year action plan to minimize the dangers posed by fissile materials and maximize the potential of peaceful nuclear energy.
The tense relations between the Muslim world and the rest of the world remain one of the biggest problems in global politics today. Moving forward, both sides must work together to recognize the inevitability of conflict and seek avenues for peaceful mitigation.
Russia is already doing much to help the alliance in its struggle against the Taliban insurgency, yet there is a growing feeling in the West that Moscow could be playing a more decisive role in Afghanistan.
When the Middle East Quartet meets in Moscow, they will most likely devote their time to looking for ways to influence the parties involved rather than trying to settle the actual conflict.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia have called for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity, increasing the international pressure on Israel in the hopes of reinvigorating indirect peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Clinton leaves for Moscow for a Quartet meeting on efforts to revive Israeli–Palestinian peace talks. She will also meet with President Medvedev to address the bilateral agenda, not least the successor agreement to START and Iran's nuclear program.
While the coastal states of Asia tend to garner the most attention internationally, developments in the continent’s interior can play a major role in the stability and security of Asia as a whole.
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Russia had recovered from its domestic crisis, and so had its global ambitions. While Moscow’s principal interests still lie mostly toward the West, the Middle East is back on Moscow’s radar screen and Russia’s withdrawal from the region has been reversed.
While the U.S. policy on Afghanistan has been accused of inconsistency, recent events suggest a comprehensive policy is taking shape, one that takes into account transformations in the threats the country faces.
The terrorist attack in Pune shows there is still opposition in India to normalizing relations with Pakistan. Since the international community supports normalization, however, this opposition stands little chance of success.