On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted to reach her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, to discuss the upcoming U.N. Security Council vote on Syria, but there was nobody on the other end of the line. Apparently, it took Secretary Clinton more than 24 hours to get ahold of Lavrov to discuss the United Nations resolution that would force Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down within two weeks. Is this what the real “reset” with Russia looks like? If so, the “reset” button needs to be …
In the latest exercise in fact-twisting, General Nikolai Makarov, Russian Chief of the General Staff, said that Russia is being pushed toward an arms race because of U.S. plans to deploy missile defenses in Europe. Markarov continued, “We are prepared to cooperate, to build a missile defense together. Why don’t they meet us halfway?” In fact, the United States has gone more than half way, and similar accusations are nothing but an exercise in bellicose rhetoric. These and similar threats are an attempt to restrain the U.S. missile defense capability. …
The Obama Administration’s “reset” policy with the Russian Federation is failing in yet another important aspect of this relationship: its predictability regarding the development of each country’s respective nuclear forces. This is despite the Obama Administration touting the New Strategic Arms Control Treaty (New START) as one of the greatest accomplishments of the reset policy. The list of U.S. “reset” concessions is extensive: unilateral cuts of U.S. strategic nuclear forces, abandonment of missile defense deployments in Poland and the Czech Republic, neglect of Russian aggressiveness in the areas of the …
America can learn a lesson from the recent Moscow bombing: Just because we’re fortunate enough to live in America, where suicide bombings thankfully don’t happen – and God-willing won’t ever happen – we need to remain vigilant and ramp up our national security. After a couple recent close calls, particularly from terrorists Faisal Shahzad (Times Square bomber) and Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Christmas Day bomber), securing our country is still of utmost importance. But what does this suicide bombing mean for Russia? What will likely retaliation be? And what will it …
The NATO summit to be held in Lisbon on Nov. 19–20 has a hefty agenda in which Russia features prominently. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is defining its role in Afghanistan; is seeking agreement on joint missile defense; and is hosting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Lisbon NATO summit is supposed to be attended by 27 state heads, plus Medvedev who will attend the separate NATO-Russia summit. Despite viewing NATO’s enlargement as a threat, Moscow still conducts a dialogue with the organization. This is understandable, as the real threats to …
Yesterday, a series of bombings in Moscow subway stations killed 39 and injured more than 70. The bombings, conducted by two female suicide bombers, are undoubtedly a horrible tragedy for the families of the victims. What followed, however, was a decision by transit companies across the United States to ramp up security from more officers, tighter physical security at transit stations and bomb sniffing dogs. While these types of attacks may lead Americans to think that the U.S. needs to change its counter-terrorism strategy—the U.S. already has an effective means …
MOSCOW – The upcoming October 11th Moscow city council elections go beyond routine local politics. They are turning into a primary of sorts for the balance of political forces nationwide. Moscow, the Russian Federation’s largest constituent territory and seat of the federal government, has also has accumulated about 85% of the nation’s financial capital and is clearly the object of the Kremlin’s close attention. The Kremlin is interested in securing the maximum loyalty of the local authorities and the city’s socio-political environment stability. Registration of candidates for the Moscow city …
