Month: February 2013

Aggressive Nationalism and Anti-Americanism Are the Kremlin’s New Ideological Pillars

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Jamestown Foundation: jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officials­the so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSB­Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still consider […]

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Rosneft revenues threaten Gazprom’s top spot; Rosneft is preparing to steal Gazprom’s crown as Russia’s largest company.

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy
Igor Sechin file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Galina Starinskaya, special to RBTH- February 14, 2013) CEO Igor Sechin directed massive growth for state-owned Rosneft in 2012, developing international partnerships in offshore projects, a merger with TNK-BP and a move toward direct long-term contracts. If Gazprom loses its monopoly on exports of liquefied natural gas, as Rosneft expects, the latter will […]

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Lavrov unable to speak to Kerry due to busy African tour schedule – Russian Foreign Ministry

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has explained why Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was unable to promptly discuss the situation following North Korea’s latest nuclear test with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “I would like to respond to the recent inaccurate remarks of U.S. Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland,” ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at […]

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Russian-US reset failed to resolve major differences – senior Russian MP

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Duma Building

(Interfax – February 13, 2013) The chairman of the Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, has said that the reset in Russian-US relations has failed to smooth major differences in bilateral ties, Interfax news agency reported on 13 February. During a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Moscow, he said: “The reset has by and large gained […]

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Ousting Syrian President Would Be ‘Wrong’ – Senior Russian MP

Middle East, North Africa
File Photo of Bashar al-Assad and Sergei Lavrov

(RIA Novosti – February 13, 2013) Russia will not agree to the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs Aleksey Pushkov said at a news conference in Moscow on 13 February. He also pointed out that Russia’s position on Syria remained the same, while the West’s position was shifting in recognition of […]

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Q&A: Venture Fund Chief Investing in Human Capital

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – Februry 14, 2013) He has had long discussions with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, sits on the Skolkovo Foundation’s board of trustees with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and presidential aide Elvira Nabiullina and heads a company investing $1 billion of federal money into next-generation technology startups. These weighty responsibilities are the most recent […]

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Putin wants to end Soviet secrecy over mineral resources

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Diamonds generic file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.com – February 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the long Soviet-era habit of classifying geological data as a state secret. As part of the new look Russia-can-do Inc, that he hopes will bring in more investment, the president said the information on the size and location of the countrys natural […]

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Russia Fights to Put Wrestling Back on the Olympic Mat

Sports, Olympics, World Cup
File Photo of Olympic Wrestling Match, adapted from defense.gov image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – Februry 14, 2013) Hours after the International Olympic Committee’s Tuesday decision to remove wrestling from the Summer Games after 2016, Russia threw its full weight behind a campaign to bring the sport back. Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov ­ a State Duma Vice Speaker and the country’s top Olympic official ­ […]

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PM demands Russian financial institutions meet world standards on information access

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The accessibility of information about the activities of Russian financial institutions does not yet meet world standards, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister demanded that measures be taken to eliminate this shortcoming. “We need to meet the level of world standards in terms of the accessibility, quality […]

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Russia’s G20 presidency: debt, IMF and currency wars

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
G20 Summit Group Photo

(Interfax – February 13, 2013) In mid-February Russia starts hosting the first G20 meetings of its presidency. The most challenging economic problems the world is facing today are on the agenda. Russia, to which Mexico passed the G20 presidency in December, is beginning to host the first meetings of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. They […]

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Young Russian Journalists Often Pressed to Write Whatever Those Who Pay Them Want, Survey Finds

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
File Photo, Blurred, of Russian Newspapers

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 14, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-young-russian.html) Many observers were outraged by a Russian official’s suggestion that journalism students should be taught to be prepared to write what their future bosses want them to, a survey of younger Russian journalists finds that many of them are struggling with this as they balance journalist ethics […]

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Funding Russian NGOs: opportunity in a crisis?

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(opendemocracy.net – Almut Rochowanski – February 13, 2013) Almut Rochowanski is a co-founder and coordinator of Chechnya Advocacy Network, a US-based NGO. Russian NGOs have traditionally looked abroad for their funding, and are dismayed at recent legislation setting up new barriers to this practice. Almut Rochowanski argues, however, that this should be seen as a challenge to increase the involvement […]

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Medvedev Advises Students on Matters of the Heart

Education, Academia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 14, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told students at the Siberian Federal University on Thursday that the key to success in love is persistence. When asked how to be successful in dating by a student, Medvedev immediately responded with, “That’s the spirit!” before revealing that he has “had many experiences, as any human being […]

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Moscow willing to study U.S. proposals on nuke cuts, has not yet received them – Russian Foreign Ministry

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Russian Nuclear Missile on Mobile Launcher Near Woods

(Interfax – February 14, 2013) Russia has not yet received proposals from the United States regarding further mutual reductions of nuclear arsenals, but it is willing to examine them once it receives them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “We have not yet received specific proposals on further reductions of our strategic nuclear arsenals. If such proposals come, we […]

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Nuclear Zero slogan sheer propaganda – Pushkov

Nuclear, Missile Defense
Russian Nuclear Submarine file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The State Duma International Affairs Committee has branded the Global Zero idea as utopian. “I view the Nuclear Zero as pure propaganda and a romantic idea,” Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov told a Wednesday press conference at Interfax. “It may help certain reduction of redundant nuclear stocks of the Americans and us,” he said. “In my […]

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Corruption has penetrated all spheres of Russian society – Matviyenko

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Valentina Matviyenko file photo

KAZAN. Feb 13 (Interfax) – Over 50,000 corruption-related crimes were committed in Russia last year, and around 7,000 people were convicted for them, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said. “These figures show that despite all implemented measures, corruption is one of the most burning issues, moreover, it has penetrated all spheres of social life in Russia: authorities, housing services and […]

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Post-Soviet Integration is Unstoppable – Putin

CIS, Customs Union, Eurasian Union, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) ­ Nothing can stop or slow down the reintegration of the post-Soviet space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “We’ve heard some recent nervous and outspoken remarks regarding integration in the post-Soviet space. Let’s put them down to the emotional rhetoric of these politicians,” Putin said at a meeting of FSB (Federal Security Service) […]

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Assault on Gazprom’s monopoly heats up

Oil, Gas, Energy
File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 14, 2013) The writing is on the wall for Gazprom’s long-held monopoly over Russia’s gas business. State-owned oil major Rosneft fired the latest volley in the growing assault on the gas giant’s priviledged position by calling for an end to Gazprom’s export monopoly on liquefied natural gas (LNG) on February 13. Rosneft chief […]

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U.S. Begins Push for New Arms Cuts

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 14, 2013) President Barack Obama’s pledge to pursue new cuts to the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals appeared to be under way Wednesday, with the State Department’s arms control chief in Moscow amid talk of a visit later this month by another high-level official. The State Department has been tight-lipped about […]

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Adoption Ban: Children Russia’s Top Priority, Says Envoy – INTERVIEW

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Russian Orphans with Mr. and Mrs. Dmitry Medvedev

WASHINGTON, February 14 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Russia’s ban of adoptions by US parents was enacted solely with the welfare of Russian children in mind, Moscow’s top envoy to Washington said this week, despite widespread perception among Americans that it was a retaliatory political act. Speaking in an interview with RIA Novosti, Ambassador Sergei Kislyak lamented an […]

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Russian Arms Sales Double as Sales to Syria Continue

Arms Trade, Military Aid, Middle East, North Africa
Syria Map

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 14, 2013) Russia sold twice as many weapons abroad in 2012 as in the previous year. It now has a portfolio of $37 billion in foreign orders and continues to sell anti-aircraft systems to Syria, a senior arms trade executive told reporters Wednesday. Although India is still the country’s No. 1 […]

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Russian Orthodox Church responds to Pope’s resignation

Religion
File Photo of Pope Benedict XVI Waving at Crowds From Runway

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Lucia Bellinello, RBTH – February 12, 2013) A few hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, Russia was already thinking about building relations with his successor. It had not happened for nearly 600 years. On February 11, 2013 Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) announced his resignation in Latin to the Vatican. “I have […]

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Urals students reap benefits of Russian-U.S. exchange

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Education, Academia, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
FLEX Student Exchange Program Logo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines –  www.rbth.ru – Nadezhda Gavrilova, special to RBTH – February 11, 2013 – Nadezhda Gavrilova is a reporter for Rossiyskaya Gazeta) 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of educational exchange programs between the United States and the Urals. U.S. Consul General in Yekaterinburg, Michael Reinert, talks to Rossiyaskaya Gazeta’s Nadezhda Gavrilova about the direction that educational exchange […]

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Half of Russians believe authorities foster foreign investments – poll

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – Healthcare, heavy industries and agriculture should be the primary areas of foreign investments, respondents told the Public Opinion Foundation in 100 towns and cities in 43 regions on February 2-3. Sixty-three percent of 1,500 respondents believe Russian authorities are interested in attracting foreign investments, 7% doubt that and 30% know nothing about investment plans of […]

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Russia beyond Moscow’s Ring Road Anything But Quiet and Stable

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 13, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-russia-beyond-moscows.html) Russian President Vladimir Putin operates on the assumption, which many observers in Moscow and abroad appear to share, that Moscow may be bubbling with popular unhappiness and organized dissent but that the rest of the Russian Federation is quiet and stable. But a survey conducted by Igor […]

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U.S. criticizes Russia over meat ban

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of U.S. Dairy Cows

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – The United States has criticized the ban Russia imposed on meat imports from February 11 due to ractopamine and says Russia is violating WTO regulations. The Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor says other countries, including WTO members, have also banned imports of U.S. meat produced with ractopamine and Russia is simply following their example. In a […]

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Russia Illicit Outflow Reached $212 Billion, Study Says

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cropped File Photo of Two Men in Business Suits Shaking Hands and Passing Cash

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – February 12, 2013) Illicit capital outflows from Russia were as much as $211.5 billion between 1994 and 2011 as the underground economy moved funds abroad, according to Global Financial Integrity, a group that studies financial flows. Total illicit outflows were $9.99 billion in 2011, down from a peak of $41.6 billion in 2010, […]

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Putin Submits Bill Banning Officials From Holding Foreign Assets

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 13, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday submitted a bill to the State Duma that seeks to ban government officials from holding overseas bank accounts or owning foreign-issued bonds and shares. The legislation, part of a raft of measures proposed by the president that ostensibly target corruption and foreign influence in […]

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After Putin

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 12, 2013) Leonid Brezhnev did it. Boris Yeltsin did it. Is Vladimir Putin doing it, too? Kremlin leaders tend to be obsessed with succession. They think about it. They worry about it. And they actively try to manage it. In the latter Brezhnev years, the upper echelons of the Soviet elite, mindful […]

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Governors, party leaders, Kremlin envoys’ motorcades will not be escorted by traffic police

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Traffic file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – From now on, governors, party leaders, Kremlin envoys traveling in motorcades in regions, and groups of school children traveling in buses will not be escorted by traffic police, says a government resolution, adopted on December 22, 2012, and enforced on Tuesday. The new procedure was proposed by the Interior Ministry in compliance with the presidential […]

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Putin signs law instituting common emergency call number ‘112’

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Policeman with Bullhorn and Disaster Victims Wrapped in Blankets

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on the common emergency telephone number “112.” The new law amends Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Population and Territories from Natural and Manmade Disasters” and Article 22 of the Federal Law “On Fire Security,” the Kremlin said on its website. The common emergency call […]

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Kremlin Backs Youth Politics With Reformed Nashi

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle- February 12, 2013) Nashi, the controversial pro-Kremlin youth group known for fierce campaigns against government critics at home and abroad, will be split into several projects under a new name, the All-Russian Youth Society, the Izvestia daily newspaper reported on Monday. A spokeswoman for Nashi appeared to confirm the report, saying the name […]

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‘The Russian People No Longer Exists,’ Russian Nationalist Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 12, 2013 –  http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-russian-people-no.html) Maksim Kalashnikov, a leading Russian nationalist commentator, says that “the Russian people no longer exists” and that its disappearance as an integral collective threatens the future of the country because there is no one left to defend it against challenges domestic and foreign. In an interview with “Svobodnaya […]

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Deputy Minister’s Speech on Journalism Sparks Controversy

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

JERUSALEM, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russian deputy communications minister Alexei Volin explained on Monday that the controversy stirred by his words that journalists were “not tasked with making the world better,” demonstrates the huge gap between how the experts perceive the media and how it works in practice. Commenting on the speech, the Russian Union of journalists said on […]

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Putin Moves to Ban Foreign Bank Accounts for Officials

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti) ­ President Vladimir Putin has submitted a bill to the State Duma prohibiting Russian officials from holding bank accounts abroad or owning foreign-issued shares and bonds, according to information posted on the Duma’s website. “This ban applies to persons who hold government positions in Russia, the Prosecutor General’s first and other deputies, members of the […]

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Only connect? A staggering lack of communication between citizens can destroy us all

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – February 11, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News In early December in the Siberian city of Barnaul, Vitaly Sidukhinsky, 28, was trying to board a bus with his mother. The doors closed before his mother could get on the bus, and Sidukhinsky, who was mentally disabled and […]

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Russian Duma Backtracks on Direct Regional Elections

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Duma Session file photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 25 – Richard Arnold – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – February 11, 2013) United Russia brought a bill before the Duma for a first reading on January 23, 2013, that would permit regional legislatures to cancel direct gubernatorial elections for the “multi-ethnic” regions of Russia. Instead, parties in regional legislatures would pick three candidates […]

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Russian Parliament Passes Anti-Smoking Bill

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
No Smoking Symbol

MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday approved a bill banning smoking in public places in its third and final reading. The ban, which takes effect on June 1, was passed by a 441 to one vote. The Duma passed the anti-smoking bill in a second reading on January 25. It […]

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NGOs Slam Volunteer Bill

Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Federation Council file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 12, 2013) Prominent nongovernmental organizations said Monday that a new bill on volunteerism would stifle their work through increased bureaucracy and unnecessary regulation. At a roundtable organized by the Civic Initiatives Committee, a think tank headed by former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, NGOs said it would be senseless to adopt legislation […]

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Russians fear aging more than repression – poll

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – February 12, 2013) Russians have nearly lost their fear of returning to Stalinism while old age and helplessness scare them more, a recent poll showed. The number of those concerned over a new wave of Stalin-era repression, anarchy, and civil wars has shrunk by nine times and 6.5 times respectively in comparison […]

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Public Satisfied with State’s Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 12, 2013) One-fifth of Russians believe that doing business in the country is easier for foreigners than for local businessmen, a survey has revealed. Twenty percent of participants in a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation believe that foreign investors working in Russia enjoy more benefits than their local peers, since […]

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Russia Resists Calls to Cut as Inflation Concerns Grow

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose & Olga Tanas – February 12, 2013) Russia’s central bank refrained from easing borrowing costs after inflation surged to a 15-month high, warning of the threat of faster price growth and defying government calls for lower rates to support the slowing economy. Bank Rossii held the refinancing rate at 8.25 percent for a fifth […]

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Gazprom Co-Founder Rem Vyakhirev Dead at 78

Oil, Gas, Energy
Artist's Conception of Planned Gazprom Skyscraper in St. Petersburg

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 12, 2013) Rem Vyakhirev, the charismatic co-founder of Gazprom who successfully fought attempts to reform the gas monopoly, died in Moscow, the state controlled firm announced late Monday. He was 78. Vyakhirev was a career gas industry man who worked his way up the ranks to become first deputy minister of […]

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Greek Privatization a Test Case for Russian Popularity

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Oil, Gas, Energy
File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – February 12, 2013) Natural gas assets being sold by crisis-ridden Greece are at the center of an escalating battle between Russian companies with ready cash and European officials reluctant to facilitate the growth of Moscow’s influence in their backyard. One of the juiciest prizes of Greece’s privatization program, gas company DEPA and […]

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Russian Cabinet spars over oil profit investment

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Oil Well file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Irina Granik, Moskovskiye Novosti – February 11, 2013) Old arguments have risen again in the government, after the publication of the “Five Years of Effectiveness” economic program earlier this month. The themes, as before, are how much money should remain in the state reserve in case of a crisis, and how to finance investment projects […]

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NATO pullout from Afghanistan to change Central Asian strategic configuration – CIS ATC

Afghanistan, Central Asia, CIS, Customs Union, Eurasian Union, Terrorism
Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(February 12, 2013 – Interfax) The terrorist activity level on the space around CIS member states is the highest in Afghanistan, CIS Anti-Terrorist Center Head Andrei Novikov said at the sixth meeting of center senior officials. “Afghanistan, a country bordering on CIS member countries, has the highest level of terrorist activity,” he said. The decision to pull out NATO forces […]

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U.S. experts coming to Moscow to consult on kids Americans wanted to adopt

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Russian Orphans with Mr. and Mrs. Dmitry Medvedev

(Interfax – February 12, 2013) U.S. experts will come to Moscow to consult with Russian officials on the destiny of orphans, who could have been adopted by Americans. “Americans asked for consultations, and a large delegation will visit us and will discuss with our officials how to track those kids, who have already come within the field of vision of […]

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US Expects No Breakthroughs during Gottemoeller’s Moscow Visit

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Rose Gottemoeller file photo

WASHINGTON, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – The US Department of State said on Monday no breakthrough decisions should be expected from top US arms control official Rose Gottemoeller’s visit to Russia. “Gottemoeller is on her way to Moscow. My understanding is this is a broad conversation about all of the issues that fall under her portfolio, including implementation of New […]

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DPRK nuclear tests may prompt other states to quit non-proliferation regime – expert

North Korea, Nuclear Proliferation
North Korea Map and Flag

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – North Korean nuclear tests endanger regional and global security, Carnegie Moscow Center Nuclear Non-Proliferation Program Coordinator Pyotr Topychkanov said. “If Japan and South Korea obtain convincing evidence to support the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea, violations of the non-proliferation regime may start in the region. For instance, Japan may be prompted to acquire […]

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The Past, Present and Future of Russian Energy Strategy

Oil, Gas, Energy
Russian Gas Facility file photo

(Strategic Forecasting/STRATFOR – Geopolitical Weekly – Lauren Goodrich and Marc Lanthemann – stratfor.com – February 12, 2013) The future of Russia’s ability to remain a global energy supplier and the strength the Russian energy sector gives the Kremlin are increasingly in question. After a decade of robust energy exports and revenues, Russia is cutting natural gas prices to Europe while […]

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