The embattled Assad regime escalated its horrific attempts to crush Syria’s opposition movement this week after Russia, one of its few allies, blocked action by the U.N. Security Council. On Friday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned against any foreign intervention, saying that other countries should “not interfere under any circumstances.” This warning came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on February 7 and afterward said that his message to Assad about the need to end the violence “has been heard.” But Assad has …
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 a rare admission of reality, a senior Russia Middle East hand, Duma Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Mikhail Margelov, acknowledged that Russia has “exhausted its arsenal” of support available to the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Yet, despite Western diplomatic efforts, Russia continues to support Assad’s brutal regime. Peaceful protests against Assad’s dictatorship started the last spring. Since then, the regime’s response to these protests has claimed more than 5,000 lives, triggered a campaign of violence from the majority Sunnis, and spurred condemnations from the West and the Arab League. Russia …
Recently, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that there may be no summit between NATO and the Russian Federation if no agreement on missile defense is reached. This is understandable: Moscow has so far refused all Western entreaties to sign a workable missile defense arrangement and threatened that the NATO–Russia summit may be cancelled. If so, the loss will be all the Kremlin’s. NATO should not feel under any pressure to finalize a missile defense agreement, as Moscow is only trying to constrain the development of the U.S. missile …
President Obama is working hard to make a Russian dream of a superior nuclear weapons arsenal come true, writes Heritage’s James Carafano in his most recent op-ed. “The White House has made clear that its signature tool for combating nuclear proliferation is leading by example, and that example is disarmament,” he writes. The Administration, however, runs a risk of ending its path to disarmament in nuclear fallout. America’s arsenal of strong and reliable nuclear weapons has prevented countries around the world from developing or significantly expanding their own nuclear capabilities. …
Russian state television has launched an all-out assault on the new U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul—undeservedly so, although not unexpected. Russia’s Channel One, run by All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), aired a hostile report this week aimed at the ambassador as he begins his tenure in Moscow. The report attacked McFaul personally and hit the Obama Administration for choosing an ambassador who is not a career diplomat. McFaul is an academic who served as Special Assistant to the President and a Senior Director at the National Security Council. …
The Obama Administration is preparing for a next round of negotiations on nuclear weapons with the Russian Federation. This is likely going to a difficult and unsuccessful endeavor. On Wednesday, The Heritage Foundation hosted the event “After New START: Next Round?” featuring Ambassador Henry Cooper, former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) in the George H.W. Bush Administration; Mark Schneider, senior analyst with the National Institute for Public Policy; and Heritage’s Baker Spring. This event was a major contribution to the discussion about negative consequences of the Obama …
It’s easy to complain in the midst of a stressful holiday season. But my family has a unique remedy: We remember one special Christmas in 1919 that gave us the freedom and liberty we enjoy today. This will be the 89th anniversary of the year my father celebrated Christmas Eve deep in the snow-laden woods of Russia as he fled the Communist takeover of his homeland. When I tell people that my father was an officer in the White Army who fought the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war, they …
There has been a lot of discussion recently of Iranian involvement in Latin America, especially with the recent plot involving an assassination attempt against the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Of course, a lot of people are going to Latin America these days: the Russians, the Chinese— and even the Europeans. That’s because the region is abundant in natural resources, especially energy, and it offers the potential of emerging markets. Unfortunately, Iran is looking to make a less-than-friendly mark in Latin America, especially for the United States. Tehran has …
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. …
