Latest Articles about Russia
The Middle East—A Bridge Too Far for Moscow Today
During the Cold War, the Middle East was the theater of East-West confrontation, of proxy wars in which Moscow and Washington battled for influence in this strategic region. Today in Moscow, there are high-placed diplomats, arms traders, and security officials with old-time connections in traditionally... MORE
OSCE Mission in Georgia on Its Death Bed
With a sleight of its hand, Russia has run the OSCE out of South Ossetia. The mandate of the OSCE Mission in Georgia expired on January 1, because Russia blocked the routine annual extension of that mandate by the organization. This is only the latest... MORE
Increased Western Involvement in Caspian Sea Energy Transport
On December 23 Austria’s OMV energy conglomerate and Germany’s leading power producer RWE (Rheinisch-Westfaelische Elektrizitaetswerke) announced an initiative to create a joint company for gas transportation from the Caspian Sea’s eastern shore westward. This initiative targets mainly Turkmen gas, aiming to build a trans-Caspian pipeline... MORE
Serbia’s Oil Industry: a Christmas Gift to Gazprom
On December 24, 2008, the Serbian government ceded control over Serbia’s Oil Industry (Naftna Industrija Srbije, NIS) to Russian Gazprom’s oil subsidiary, Gazprom Neft. Motivated to a large extent politically and negotiated poorly by Belgrade, the cession amounts to a Christmas gift for Gazprom and... MORE
Russia Prepares a New Draft Security Strategy Through 2020
Russia’s Security Council (SC) recently prepared a draft national security strategy until 2020. President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a new security strategy in June 2008, and it has been discussed among all Russia’s regions. The new strategy plans improvements to the political system, optimization of state... MORE
Russia’s Slow Start into a Post-Prosperity Year
The extra-long Christmas-New Year-Rozhdestvo (Orthodox Christmas) celebrations in Russia have been muted this season, and unmistakable anxiety stands in stark contrast to the exuberance that greeted the arrival of the year 2008. Just two weeks before that “best-year-ever start,” President Vladimir Putin had announced the... MORE
Gazprom Stops Gas Deliveries to Ukraine—What Next?
On the morning of January 1, OAO Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas monopoly, in league with the Russian government, decreased the volume of gas shipped to Ukraine by 90 million cubic meters a day—the amount that Ukraine had contracted for in 2008. Gas shipments of... MORE
Russia to OSCE: Recognize South Ossetia or Get Out
Russia is threatening to run the OSCE out of South Ossetia at the end of the year. Moscow will only relent if the OSCE recognizes the Russian-installed authorities as legitimate and treats Russian-occupied South Ossetia as an essentially sovereign state.The OSCE has maintained a monitoring... MORE
The Kremlin Defends Its Energy Interests
Russia moved to support the 2 million barrel a day cut in oil production by OPEC by reducing its own oil exports. The country's oil companies and energy projects appear, however, to be facing an uncertain future amid continued volatility in global energy prices.Russia dispatched... MORE
A Military Reform That Does Not Seem to Satisfy Anyone
Last October Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov revealed drastic plans to reform and cut the Russian military (see EDM, October 16). Since then, defense experts, the public, and thousands of officers in active service who maybe forcibly retired at short notice have been seeking clarification of... MORE