Carnegie Moscow Center
The tenth-anniversary Valdai Club meeting was named “Russia’s diversity for the Modern World.” Nevertheless, the issue of diversity was put to the side by other hot current issues: the recent Russian elections, corruption, and Syria.
Merkel’s rule, apparently, means a break in Germany’s life due to the lack of new political elites and leaders.
Vladimir Putin has taken the new aggressive turn in domestic policy and in the neighborhood. That has simply left him with no friends in the West.
The authorities took a new approach in the Moscow election by allowing opposition candidate Navalny to participate without the possibility of winning. But Navalny won a moral victory and became an opposition leader with a national reputation.
U.S. reactions to President Vladimir Putin’s op-ed article in the New York Times, from outrage to ridicule, show just how badly much of the Western policy elite are misinterpreting Russia.
The main goal of Vladimir Putin’s op-ed in the New York Times is to force the United States back into the U.N. Security Council-centered international system.
Russia’s position on Syria is based in large part on Moscow’s concerns about the political repercussions of intervention. At the G20 Summit, Vladimir Putin attempted to create a de facto referendum on intervention.
Though Putin purported to oppose any attempt to hijack the economic agenda of the G-20, he succeeded in setting the stage for a critical debate on U.S. foreign policy with the global leaders.
Dmitri Trenin participated in a live Twitter Q&A on the situation in Syria, the G20 summit, and the U.S.-Russia relations.
Although Putin’s statements have been seen as flexible rhetoric, Russia’s policy toward Syria has not changed.