Carnegie Moscow Center
Poland’s relatively successful foreign policy contributed to the popularity of the ruling Civic Platform party and helped it win the country’s parliamentary elections. Given these election results, the Polish foreign policy is not likely to change.
Europe must think and act in a unified strategic manner if it wants to save its struggling currency and strengthen its military and government capabilities.
Today, the big economic risks come not from the United States, but from European countries struggling to figure out a long term solution to sovereign debt and the weak institutional underpinnings of the euro.
Financial market turmoil and U.S. debt woes threaten to undermine the global recovery, but the biggest danger to the world economy comes from Europe and its worsening debt crisis.
The leadership of the International Monetary Fund should be open to any qualified candidate from anywhere in the world and the selection process should be inclusive, transparent, and based on no other considerations than the candidate’s professional merits, experience, and integrity.
Twenty years after Russia cast off its Soviet economic model, its central bank is still struggling to keep inflation under control. To moderate price increases, the central bank must clarify its approach to monetary policy.
In spite of predicted growth in 2011, the Russian economy faces a number of serious challenges as it recovers from the global financial crisis.
Russia’s economic performance exceeded expectations in 2010, but inflation continues to worry policy makers. While they are attempting to curb rising prices, they are avoiding other necessary reforms for fear of inciting protests as elections approach.
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’s GDP is expected to grow at low rates the next two years and the country's budgetary outlook remains uncertain, while recent riots and violence suggest that the country’s political situation is deteriorating.