On May 16, Valdai International Discussion Club held a round-table discussion «Russia and the West: new stage of relationship». The framework of the round table also included a presentation of the Russian edition of Alexander Rahr’s book Where Will Putin Go? Russia Between China and Europe (original title Der kalte Freund. Warum wir Russland brauchen: Die Insider-Analyse).
Following up on the Moscow conference on missile defense and ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago the Valdai Discussion Club convened foreign and Russian experts to discuss the future of Russia-NATO relations.
The fifth conference of the Working Group on the future of Russian-U.S. relations is to be held on May 17 - 20 in Moscow.
The theses contained in the report “Russia should not miss its chance: Development scenarios” were prepared by the working group comprising Russian and international experts ahead of the VIII annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting, themed “2011-2012 Elections and the Future of Russia. Development Scenarios for the Next 5-8 Years”.
The Valdai Index represents the combined opinion of leading world experts that participated in Valdai Club conferences with respect to Russia’s development in the political, economic, social, cultural and international spheres. Download Russia Development Index 2010-2011 in Russian (PDF)
The report examines how the Russia’s and United States` ties with the countries in post-Soviet Eurasia affect the bilateral relationship. The authors argue that despite the initial successes of the “reset” in Russia-U.S. relations, disputes relating to post-Soviet Eurasia represent “a ‘landmine’ in Russia -U.S. relations that could ‘detonate’ at any time and seriously complicate cooperation on other issues.
For Washington, Putin’s doubts about the G-8’s capacity to accomplish anything significant and his close relations with China should turn on the red light with regards to the hallowed U.S.-Russian “reset” policy.
The putative adoption of the Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, the trials of Russian citizens in U.S. courts, as well as the two countries' perspectives on the conflict in and around Syria have continued to be controversial for Russia-U.S. relations. And yet neither of these problems appears strategic or intractable.
One hopes that the wise decision of Moscow and Washington to prevent the ballistic missile defense (BMD) issue from hindering the improvement of their relations will ultimately help them to see the unimportance of their BMD deadlock and to focus instead on the issues that really matter. If they do, they will not have to cancel any more summits in the future.
Why is Mike McFaul, a prominent scholar and Russia specialist who played a very positive role during the reset in his capacity at the White House from 2009 to 2011, so controversial as an ambassador? The role of public celebrity hardly combines well with the role of extraordinary and plenipotentiary envoy.
The Obama administration is vulnerable to the criticism over the “reset.” The good news is that foreign policy is never at the center of American election campaigns. But whenever Russia is touched upon, the Republicans attacks usually focus on the undemocratic nature of the political regime in Russia and the dubious benefits of the New START treaty,
Russia is helping the U.S. and NATO forces, which are fighting against international terrorism in Afghanistan. There are many common threats that can be countered only through joint effort. Allowing NATO to use Vostochny Airport in Ulyanovsk is Russia’s contribution to the fight against these threats.
Washington had four years with the young, agreeable Dmitri Medvedev as its principal Russian interlocutor. But last week’s election confirmed that soon U.S. diplomats will once again be dealing directly with Vladimir Putin.
On May 7, a few hours after his presidential inauguration, Vladimir Putin signed a decree for a strategic program on the development of Russian education. One of its chief aims is to ensure that a number of Russian universities enter the ranking of the world’s top 100 universities.
The aim of the protests was quite simple. The political process behind the demonstrations against Vladimir Putin and for fair elections has now become irreversibly transformed into a technological one.
In the Muslim community in Russia actual religious and spiritual problems are fading into the background, while the clergy are focused on fighting for leadership and their own financial wellbeing.
