Ingushetia as a Microcosm of Putin’s Reforms
In the wake of the massacre at the Beslan schoolhouse in North Ossetia in early September 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a major reform intended to fight terrorism. “What…
Small Steps for U.S. Security Interest in Kyrgyzstan
The United States faces a dilemma in Kyrgyzstan because the two countries’ short-term and long-term security interests may be in conflict with each other. For the next few years, the United States…
Oversight of Russia’s Intelligence and Security Agencies: The Need for and Prospects of Democratic Control
For a brief while after the collapse of the August 1991 coup in Moscow, speculation abounded that the Soviet state security apparatus, known since 1954 as the KGB, would be…
U.S. – Ukraine Relations in a Changing Security Environment
The events of September 11, 2001, have greatly changed the security environment and have set a distinct new security agenda for the United States. Although one could argue that these…
U.S. – Russian Missile Defense Cooperation: Limits of the Possible
President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to overreact to the December 2001 U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty paved the way to recovering from the painful and acrimonious debates about the…
Putin’s European Project: Derailed or Set Back in Reformatting?
The November 25, 2004 Russia-EU summit, dominated by disagreement over elections in Ukraine, marked a record low point in Russia’s relations with Europe. Putin probably regretted his decision to postpone this…
From Dubrovka to Beslan: Who is learning faster?
The social, political, and religious causes and characteristics of modern terrorism have become the object of heightened political attention and the subject for heated academic discussions. No country in the…
The Next President of Ukraine: Predicting the Unpredictable
It is obvious that the epoch of Leonid Kuchma in Ukraine is coming to its end. When and how this epoch will end and what, let alone who, will follow Kuchma…
Power Ministries and Federal Reform in Russia
Despite two and one-half years of federal reform under Russian president Vladimir Putin, there is still no clear understanding of just what this federal reform is supposed to achieve. The…
Putin and Bush, Perfect Together: Yet Russia’s Alliance with Europe is Inevitable…Eventually
At the tactical level, the Putin-Bush alliance against terrorism is secure, but this alliance is based on two wasting assets: Bush’s presidency and a shared understanding of what constitutes the terrorist threat.…
U.S. – Russian Cooperation in Missile Defense: Is It Really Possible?
The idea of cooperation between the United States and Russia in the area of missile defense has been popular in Russia since at least the early 1990s. The degree of interest has…
Russian Foreign Policy in Post-Soviet Space: New Priorities for New Challenges?
Moscow’s active and unprecedented direct support of Viktor Yanukovych in the Ukrainian presidential elections highlights recent changes in Russian policy toward the post-Soviet states. This new approach has raised numerous questions and…