Next week marks 35 years since America and Russia narrowly avoided a nuclear war, largely thanks to one man who decided that an early-warning signal showing U.S. missiles flying at the USSR was a false alarm.
The latest round, identified as the 60th by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, also blacklisted 33 Russian nationals and three entities. Plus, details on the downing of a Russian surveillance plane in Syria and more in our latest news round-up.
This year’s strategic military exercise demonstrates both that Russia is still a power in Asia and that it will work with China to offset threats from Washington.
Blog
Nuclear Near Miss: Remembering the ‘Man Who Saved the World’
September 21, 2018
News
60th US Sanctions Package Since 2011 Targets Chinese Military for Buying Russian Arms
September 21, 2018
Analysis
Vostok-2018: Russia and China Signal Growing Military Cooperation
September 10, 2018
Editors' Picks
Analysis
‘Above All, Avoid Zeal’: EastWest’s Cameron Munter on Russia’s Relations With the West
RM Staff
A veteran U.S. diplomat specializing in conflict resolution weighs in on the potential for U.S.-Russian cooperation, as well as the threats, obstacles and prospects facing both countries.
Measuring National Power: Is Vladimir Putin’s Russia in Decline?
Simon Saradzhyan and Nabi Abdullaev
Russia’s standing in the world—both real and perceived—has a profound impact on U.S. security and policies, as well as on Moscow's actions. This report offers a unique quantitative stocktaking of Russia’s national power.
Scholar Timothy Snyder, among many others, has described Russia—or at least the Putin regime—as “fascist.” Laruelle takes a look at, and debunks, Snyder's four main claims for justifying the label.
Examining Putin’s three military interventions abroad, the author sees a pattern in which two conditions must be present for Russia to intervene with force: a threat to its vital interests and a reasonable chance of success.
Russian Power Under Putin: Up and Down and Flatline
Andrew Kuchins
While Moscow’s military power has grown considerably, Putin has not created the conditions crucial for sustained economic growth and the development of new commercial technologies.
In Helsinki, Trump Takes ‘Do No Harm’ Approach to Russia on 2 Issues: Syria and Energy
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
For now, at least, the U.S. will not help its Middle Eastern and European allies pursue their own engagement with Moscow, but will not interfere with it a great deal either.
From election interference and the war in Syria to praise for Putin and weaponized cold snaps—read over two years' worth of the president’s comments on Russia.
Expectations for the Helsinki summit were low, but the U.S. and Russia still managed to sail their listing bilateral ship directly into the rocks of the Russian cyber-meddling controversy.
The Shanghai Communique of 1972 dispensed with worn-out platitudes about cooperation and laid out the disputes between the U.S. and China. Doing so gave it an air of credibility. So what would a U.S.-Russian Helsinki Communique look like?
