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Comment by Gordon Hahn, Special to Russia Profile
October 6, 2008
The recent standoff between Russia and the West, when Moscow showed its unwillingness to participate in the meeting of the UN’s “six” and approve further sanctions against Tehran, angered many. When Russia signed contracts on arms sales to Venezuela and Bolivia, these countries expelled U.S. ambassadors adding to the wrath. Russia was accused of being uncooperative and acting irresponsibly even in matters which concerned its own security, such as the threat of Iran’s acquiring nuclear weapons. But does the West always behave in a cooperative way, when its own (and Russia’s) security is concerned?
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Comment by Alexander Arkhangelsky, Special to RIA Novosti
October 6, 2008
While recently everyone has come to realize that there’s something terribly wrong with the American way of doing things, the fact that things are no better at home has so far evaded most. But as the state begins to admit that it’s not all quiet on the Eastern front, a new and twisted logic emerges – the U.S. democratic system is to blame for the global financial collapse, because it is, well, too slow. But then it remains unclear why investors are pulling money out of an efficient, authoritarian Russia in favor of the U.S. mammoth.
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Introduced by Vladimir Frolov, Russia Profile
October 3, 2008
This summer’s conflict in the Caucasus and Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia provoked condemnation from Washington and a crisis in U.S.-Russian relations. But while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Russia is taking a “dark turn,” and called for “isolation” of Russia, her colleague, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for a more conciliatory approach. Is isolating Russia a viable policy, given the United States’ need for allies? What could Russia do to avoid such isolation? And which approach will prevail when a new administration moves into the White House in just four months?
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By Sergei Balashov, Russia Profile
October 2, 2008
Oil prices surging in the past decade were good for producers like Russia, but bad for consumers. When the crisis struck and skyrocketing prices took an irreversible toll on the global economy, oil prices declined as sharply as they had risen, causing uneasy feelings in the exporting countries. Now prices finally appear to have stabilized.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
October 2, 2008
The arrival of yet another festival into Russia’s simmering ferment of creativity might not be anything to remark upon. But in its scope, substance and ambition, the Territory International Festival is – or at least seeks to be – something special.
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By Dmitry Babich, Russia Profile
October 1, 2008
The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko went to enormous lengths in criticizing himself on the subject of last Sunday’s elections, which, against commonly held expectations, did not bring a single opposition candidate into the Chamber of Representatives, the Belarusian parliament.
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Comment by Georgy Bovt, Special to Russia Profile
October 1, 2008
Statistics show that compared to the overall population, the percentage of Russians who have traveled outside of the former Soviet Union is negligible. Because people have little first-hand knowledge of other cultures and ways of life, Russia remains an ignorant and stagnant country that perceives the world outside its borders as mysterious and hostile, further crippling its ability to integrate into the global community.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
September 30, 2008
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and billionaire banker Alexander Lebedev have announced the formation of a new opposition party. Its organizers say the new party, to be called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia, will run on a social democratic platform and make its debut in the 2011 Duma elections.
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Comment by Vladimir Frolov, Special to Russia Profile
September 30, 2008
When Russian forces destroyed Georgia’s army and sank its Western-donated navy during a five-day-long war in August in order to protect South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Mikheil Saakashvili’s suicidal policies, many in the West argued that this would send a signal throughout the post-Soviet space that the former Soviet bloc countries should seek NATO’s protection from Russia’s aggressive policies. However, the actual message that politicians in states like Azerbaijan and Moldova are deciphering is antithetical.
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Russia, Venezuela sign energy cooperation documents
Russia and Venezuela signed on Friday two documents on energy cooperation following a meeting of the countries' presidents.
Russian energy giant Gazprom's CEO, Alexei Miller, and Venezuela's energy and petroleum minister and PDVSA company president, Rafael Ramirez, signed a memorandum of understanding on possible cooperation between the companies.
Meanwhile, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Ramirez signed a memorandum of understanding on developing a special additional intergovernmental agreement in the energy sphere.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday that Russia and Venezuela were considering creating a joint oil and natural gas consortium.
Meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Urals city of Orenburg, Chavez said: "A whole series of important issues have arisen - the creation of a Russian-Venezuelan bank, and your and [Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin's proposals to set up a PDVSA-Gazprom oil and gas consortium."
Medvedev said earlier Friday at the meeting that the two countries would sign on Friday a number of important agreements on cooperation, including of an economic and military nature.
"We... will sign a number of agreements strengthening our cooperation, which is very versatile. I am speaking of economic cooperation and military cooperation," Medvedev said.
Source: RIA Novosti
New: Russia Profile Cartoons
Vladimir Kremlev
"Dmitry, have no fear and prepare some financial injections".
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Sarah Carey of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, September 26, 2008
Nicholas Watson in Geneva, September 26, 2008
Graham Stack in Moscow, September 24, 2008
Graham Stack and Ben Aris, September 22, 2008
UBS in Moscow, September 22, 2008
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DMITRY TRENIN, ALEXEI ARBATOV, October 6, 2008
Sergey Rogov, October 6, 2008
Angus Reid Global Monitor , October 6, 2008
RFE/RL, October 6, 2008
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Pass the Caviar
By Dmitry Babich
During the early 1990s, the last Soviet ambassador to Canada, Alexey Rodionov, had a reputation of being an extrovert, but there was one thing he was very secretive about—his driver’s activity in the backyard of his Rock Cliffe Park residence in the evenings. More...
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