Carnegie Moscow Center
The problem with Putin’s vision for modernizing Russia’s military is that it rests on the misplaced belief that the United States is still the country’s principal adversary.
Vladimir Putin cannot survive a sustained, nonviolent protest movement unless he creates a regime change by changing himself and addressing corporate influence on politics.
While Russia will not help push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out, it must be careful about the consequences of a dispute with multiple countries over Syria. However, the West, too, needs to be careful not to antagonize Russia on this issue.
If Russia continues to support Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, it does not bode well for cooperation between Russia and the West on missile defense or any other security matter of a strategic nature.
Moscow’s position on Syria is primarily shaped by the recent experience of Libya, strong doubts concerning the Syrian opposition, and suspicions about U.S. motives.
The core issue in the NATO-Russia relationship is the mutual deficit of trust. The Euro-Atlantic area needs a “security community,” where no member expects any other state to use force or threaten to use force against it.
The Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative set out to identify the practical steps needed to secure the region’s future and to create new pathways to a more inclusive and effective Euro-Atlantic community, focusing on the military, human, and economic dimensions of security.
While the project of “grand Eurasian alliance” between Russia and China currently appears unworkable, the Sino-Russian strategic partnership is a major boon for both countries and acts as one of the pillars of peace and stability in Asia.
Uzbekistan, like other Central Asian states, shifts its foreign policy efforts between Moscow and Washington depending on circumstances. It seems that now Uzbekistan is pressing for an increased American military presence in the country.
The cumulative impact of the nuclear developments that occurred in 2012, from the disaster in Fukushima to Iran's continuing nuclear program, will make the world's nuclear future more uncertain.