Section: Brookings (USA)
Solving Obama’s Aleppo dilemma
The United States has an Aleppo dilemma. Russian forces, sensing an opportunity to rout the rebels, are bombarding Aleppo from the air and with artillery. The city is close to encirclement and a siege. Over 70,000 of its inhabitants have already left, worsening the refugee crisis that threatens stability not just in the region but also in Europe....
Why is Ukraine stalling on reforms?
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanokuvich’s refusal to sign the agreement on the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) in November 2013 prompted civil unrest in Kiev, which later became known as “Euromaidan.” After unsuccessful attempts to quell the protest, in February 2014, Yanukovych fled the country and was ousted by the...
Should Vladimir Putin be concerned about the Russian economy?
In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely be running in the country’s next presidential election. Putin has been in power for 16 years, and by March of 2018, he will have become the second-longest serving head of state in post-imperial Russian history, after Joseph Stalin and ahead of Leonid Brezhnev. Although the 2018...
Pay attention, America: Russia is upgrading its military
Russia is in the midst of a major modernization of its armed forces. This has been driven by Vladimir Putin’s ambition to restore Russia’s hard power and supported by the revenues that flowed into the Kremlin’s coffers between 2004 and 2014, when the price of oil was high. The modernization programs encompass all parts of the...
New START turns five
Little is going well in U.S.-Russia relations right now. Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, major differences over Syria, and the more bellicose tone coming out of the Kremlin have helped drag the bilateral relationship to its lowest point since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. A bright spot One of the few bright spots is...
Mr. Lavrov, Russia, and the Budapest Memorandum
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a lengthy press conference on January 26, in which he reflected on the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2015. Among a number of issues, he addressed Moscow’s obligations under the December 1994 Budapest Memorandum on security assurances for Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov was asked how, given...
Ukraine’s challenges for 2016
Ukraine faces another difficult year as it grapples with two daunting challenges: Russia’s continuing effort to use the unsettled conflict in the Donbas to destabilize Kiev, and the need to implement critical economic reforms. In order to put the country on a path to becoming a successful European state, Ukraine’s leadership has to...
Unfriended: How Russia’s Syria quagmire is costing it Middle Eastern allies
At a time when most Russians were taking a long break from politics until after the Orthodox Christmas on January 7, there has been no respite in Russia’s air operations in Syria, nor in the quarrel with Turkey. Rather than focus on the bread-and-butter issues of making ends meet, Russian policymakers seem to be instead preparing their next...
New year, new leaf? What to watch in Turkey in 2016
The Turkey of a decade ago was at a very different crossroads. That Turkey had met the European Union’s “Copenhagen political criteria,” a set of democracy- and governance-related requirements that EU candidates had to meet, and had started accession negotiations. That Turkey’s economy was just beginning to take off. For the first...
The danger of Russian and Turkish competitive machismo in Syria
The downing of a Russian jet by Turkish fighters has brought the dangers posed by Moscow’s intervention in Syria into sharp relief. While the Russian and Turkish Presidents trade insults and display their competitive machismo, the world faces the prospect of a military crisis between Russia and NATO. Although we do not yet know what...
