Carnegie Moscow Center
The IMF and other Western institutions played a marginal role in the Russian default of 1998. However, working with the IMF was instrumental in teaching Russian authorities how to think through problems more comprehensively.
Mikhail Gorbachev deserves recognition for being a leader who changed the world with his willingness to make difficult and unpopular decisions.
The Russian Duma’s likely ratification of New START Agreement this month will open a new debate over the strategic arms threats and emergent arms control opportunities that might be usefully added to the President's current arms control agenda.
The U.S.-Russia reset can boast impressive accomplishments in the security and economic spheres, but the stability of the relationship remains in doubt as long as the “values gap” between the two strategic partners goes unaddressed.
The recent reset between Russia and the West is being used by Moscow as a tool for the legitimization and perpetuation of the Russian status-quo and hasn’t prevented the strengthening of repressive policies inside Russia.
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.
Moscow's more active policy stance on North Korea serves Russia's strategic, political, and economic interests and could potentially have a positive impact on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The new conviction of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a potent demonstration of the regime’s lack of commitment to the modernization of the Russian political and judicial system.
After New START, the next step to reduce nuclear arms must deal with two major issues: tactical nuclear weapons and other nuclear weapon states.
The ratification of the New START Treaty by the U.S. Senate speaks to the stability of the Russian-American “reset.” But the next challenge for Russia and the United States—missile defense—will be much more difficult.