Carnegie Moscow Center
For the first time, Moscow has said openly that it will limit the West and its influence not only in Russian territory but also in the post-Soviet countries.
Despite the support by some political parties in Europe, human rights organizations have been unable to prevent high-profile events taking place in autocratic countries.
Putin’s new foreign policy doctrine has control as its true objective, sovereignty as its slogan, and nationalism as its soul.
The EU's Competition Commission recently decided to investigate whether Gazprom, the Russian gas company, had hindered competition in Eastern Europe by holding back gas deliveries.
While the outcome of Ukraine’s upcoming parliamentary elections is unclear, the result is unlikely to change the country’s power structure.
Through the recent parliamentary elections and pending peaceful transfer of power, Georgia has made several important strides toward establishing democracy and rule of law.
Conditional and tentative peace between Russia and other European countries is being replaced by much more durable relationships which eschew war as an instrument of policy among the countries concerned.
Ukraine is the most important test of the Kremlin’s neo-imperialistic longings and also a test of the West’s interest in expanding its normative principles eastward—however, Ukraine itself should demonstrate a desire for deeper integration based on a democratic path.
Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization remains a controversial issue in the country. It will not necessarily bring an end to trade disputes with the EU, but is likely to advance the establishment of a free trade zone and the signing of a new cooperation agreement.
Each of the three previous four-year presidential terms in Russia—two of Vladimir Putin and one Dmitry Medvedev’s—has been marked by a different policy toward the West, and the new Putin’s six-year period opening in 2012 is likely to follow that pattern.