Last Friday, Russia’s Kommersant, a leading newspaper, reported that United Russia, the ruling political party, is about to submit a bill in the Duma that would tighten the activity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) financed by foreign funds. This step is likely to severely curb freedom of speech in Russia. Under …
Syria’s long-suffering people need U.S. leadership, and they need it now. The situation is dire as activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011. But effective action has been held up at the United Nations due to Russia’s diplomatic protection of the …
On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relation Committee unanimously passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which would ban Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death from entering the U.S. and using U.S. financial institutions. The bill was cleared earlier this month by a House committee. Russian deputy foreign minister …
In his recent article in Foreign Affairs, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability,” Kenneth N. Waltz is swimming upstream against the consensus position regarding the instability stemming from nuclear proliferation. In this case, the consensus position is right, and Waltz is wrong. The international nuclear …
Yesterday and today, the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee held hearings on Russia’s abysmal human rights record and its looming accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Obama Administration wants Congress to provide permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Russia and scrap the 1974 Cold …
Today, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting at the G-20 summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This meeting is likely will be tense, as the two leaders have fundamentally different agendas regarding some of the most pressing international problems. While President Obama is worried about his …
As the Obama Administration continues to pursue what can at best be described as a tepid commitment to missile defense, it nonetheless continues to draw condemnation from Russian and Chinese officials who describe U.S. and NATO plans to enhance missile defense capabilities throughout Europe as “destabilizing.” All the while, Russia …
Progress on the ability of U.S. firms to take advantage of new business opportunities when Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) took a step forward yesterday when Senate leaders acknowledged that legislation to promote human rights will be a condition needed for permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to move …
