- 08:30 22/04/2011
“Russia is less concerned and attaches less significance to Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union than it does to Ukraine’s not joining the Deep [and Comprehensive] Free Trade Area with the EU. If it sees it as a real prospect, I think it will use economic pressure, and pressure with regard to energy supplies. I do not believe that we can exclude the possibility of a future energy crisis between Ukraine and Russia.”
- 09:15 19/04/2011
After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, Poland saw itself as being the leading state in East-Central Europe. The objective clash of interests between Warsaw and Russia has its roots in that perception. First, Poland is interested in seeing a strengthened U.S. presence in Eastern Europe and NATO mechanisms. Poland’s political elite feel they need a powerful ally to counterbalance Russia and Germany.
- 09:55 18/04/2011
According to one likely scenario for the period up to 2035, European economies will continue to experience moderate growth. Because energy intensity will decrease, overall energy demand will more or less stagnate. But gas demand will grow because gas will come to substitute coal and nuclear energy in electricity production. By 2035, European gas demand is likely to have increased by about 100 bcm.
- 09:47 18/04/2011
The striking tone of a report titled “Human Rights & Democracy: The 2010 FCO Report.” Josef Stalin wrote in much the same tone, albeit in Russian – the same rigid and dogmatic pronouncements, with the same lack of “unnecessary” evidence, the same eagerness to educate the people, and the same conviction that all opposing views are wrong.
- 11:05 15/04/2011
The shocks that have lately rocked the Middle East surprised Russia, along with many other international actors, and the new reality, marked by general instability and uncertainty, has left it at a loss for action. However, Russia’s strong desire to maintain its status in the Middle East has driven it to seek political alternatives that will enable it to play a role in shaping the future of the region.
- 09:33 15/04/2011
While the health of the American, Chinese, German and Japanese economies remain essential, the Asia Crisis and recent concerns in countries such as Greece and Portugal have shown that storms can stir in smaller ponds and then take on systemic proportions. To reform the G20 to conform to a constituency system, therefore, makes sense. In this context, Russia can make important contributions by acting as an informed representative for the economies in its Near Abroad.
- 14:05 14/04/2011
The current internal political situation in Belarus is unusual. It was not that long ago that President Lukashenko was re-elected in elections seen as unfair by the international community. Unlike other leaders in a similar position, Laurent Gbagbo for instance in Ivory Coast, Lukashenko has been much more successful: he has managed to remain in office, there has been no intervention.
- 08:41 14/04/2011
Despite their improved relationship, China and Russia have not formed a mutual defensive alliance and still tend to pursue distinct, if largely parallel, policies regarding many issues. Personal and economic exchanges between China and Russia remain minimal compared to those found between most large countries in Europe and North America.
- 08:30 14/04/2011
There is a gap between the Russian economic potential and the Russian economic performance. Foreign investment in the real economy in Russia will come only if Russians begin investing in their own country. What we see now is outflow, not only of investment from Russia but we see it also in Russian investors, who are investing in Europe, in the United States, in Canada, in China, but investing less and less in Russia.
- 10:05 13/04/2011
BRICS leaders are set to meet on beautiful Hainan Island in China to plan for their future development. This important event will contribute to the recent progress made in international politics and the global economy. A new international structure is emerging and taking the place of the past Western-centric one.
- 09:45 13/04/2011
Despite some obvious similarities, the wave of protests and violence that has been sweeping through the Middle East and North Africa differs in many ways from the challenges facing Central Asian nations. It is because of these important differences that events in the Arab world are unlikely to directly affect this region.
- 09:29 13/04/2011
With the exception of Kazakhstan, the Central Asian countries have been trying, so far largely in vain, to break out of the poverty trap. There are no “one-size-fits-all” recipes that can miraculously bolster the regional countries’ socio-economic development.
- 08:40 12/04/2011
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin performed space flight aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft, orbiting Earth in 108 minutes and landing safely. The UN declares April 12 as International Day of Human Space Flight. The spaceflight was hailed by the whole world, so the Valdai Discussion club asked some of its members about their memories of this event, what were their impressions and thoughts about this triumph of progress and scientific discovery.
- 08:30 12/04/2011
In the Russian Federation and across the post-Soviet space the ruble is currently of fundamental economic importance. Its role in the European context and at the global level is no less significant, and remains coherent with the country’s political, economic and geographical position. Enjoying “reserve currency status” would involve a strengthening of Moscow’s role in the region, it would benefit the internationalization of Russia’s economy, and would help foster stronger economic and financial ties with other economies in the region and worldwide.
- 15:18 11/04/2011
Any oil price rise as the result of Libyan chaos will benefit Russia’s economy. Russia can afford much more when oil is $110/barrel than when it is at $60/barrel. For Russian officials who might see international relations as a zero-sum, a lengthy American entanglement might seem beneficial.
- 09:30 11/04/2011
The United States and almost all other members of NATO are facing serious financial problems at the moment. Many are cutting their defense budgets, and the sums given to operations in Afghanistan will be under review. The operation in Libya only complicates the calculation.
- 08:52 08/04/2011
In the last few years Polish-Russian relations have been like fairground ride, with all its ups and downs. Sometimes even adrenalin junkies got sick, and sometimes they would cheer.
- 08:40 08/04/2011
Washington and Moscow should quickly launch a new round of negotiations aimed at further reductions of their nuclear forces. They should aim for a limit of no more than 1000 deployed strategic warheads, with corresponding reductions in deployed strategic delivery vehicles.
- 08:30 08/04/2011
Half-Chechen, one-time aide to Khodorkovsky, sometime novelist and current-day political technician, Vladislav Surkov’s life story lacks anything but colour. Yet the adjectives most usually attributed to his political figure are “grey” and “shadowy”.
