From Poverty-Haunted Bharat to Great India

In Russia they have a great deal of respect for India, and yet, they still regard it as part of the developing world. However, the steep rise of this Asian giant has been so impressive that the country has really turned into a great power. In spite of the immense problems that it faces today, in the social sphere above all, India’s clout in the world political and economic system in the coming 25-30 years will steadily increase.

More Science

What will happen to science in one hundred years? What problems will it address? Who will be more in demand: physicists, biologists, economists or psychologists? Which science will prevail: fundamental or applied? The Austrian economist J. Schumpeter believed that one hundred years is a too of a short time frame for serious forecasts of major social processes. Complex interrelationships between science and society complicate forecasting, but do not make it impossible.

Igor Ivanov Awarded the OSCE Medal

On June 17, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier decorated RIAC President Igor Ivanov with the OSCE Medal for outstanding personal contribution in strengthening security and promoting cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic region.

Igor Ivanov at the OSCE Security Days

On June 17, RIAC President Igor Ivanov took part in the OSCE Security Days Conference held at the headquarters of the Organization for Security and Cooperation ahead of the Annual Security Review Conference intended to analyze the security level in the Euro-Atlantic space.

Russia-U.S. Relations: Go Economy!

Once again, the meeting of Russian and American presidents at the G8 sidelines is bringing the bilateral dialog to the forefront. Meanwhile, both countries are going through a generation change. Government, businesses, armed forces, media and noncommercial organizations are taking in new people who remember the Cold War but were brought up in an utterly different environment. They see the Russia-US reset as a trivial historical episode.

Britain's Search for a New European Policy

The realities of Europe's last two years lead one to ruminate on the genesis of a new type of state in this part of the world. The welfare state appears to be making room for one of bloc-based discipline, while the EU's membership obligations and their enforcement mechanisms are growing tougher. In this context, the growing Euroscepticism in British society seems to be more than just a manifestation of that nation's particular approach to the European Union.

MAD About You

After a series of setbacks and disappointments during President Barack Obama's first term, U.S.-Russian political dialogue is finally gaining momentum. In April, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the margins of the G8 foreign ministers' gathering in London. Not long after, U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon called on President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where he hand-delivered a letter from Obama detailing potential areas of cooperation. This renewed diplomatic push lays the groundwork for Obama and Putin to reframe U.S.-Russian relations in their upcoming meetings at the G8 summit this week and at the G20 summit this September.

Online radicalization to violence

Interview

The Internet is actively used by terrorist to inform, motivate and recruit “lone wolf” extremists and terrorists. Online self-radicalization to violence is the rising threat that is very hard to combat. In this interview Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Director of the Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization, discusses reasons behind online radicalization and ways to counter it.

RIAC and Russian Federal Migration Service at Transatlantic Council on Migration

On June 11-12, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov and FMS First Deputy Ekaterina Yegorova took part in the 10th Plenary Meeting of the Transatlantic Council on Migration as part of the two organizations’ cooperation effort.

Venezuela, a Nation Split Apart

The April 2013 snap presidential elections in Venezuela have exposed a country deeply polarized with a population divided into staunch supporters of the late leader Hugo Chavez and opponents of 21st Century Socialism. Further developments in the country will shape the future of leftist regimes in Latin America as well as Venezuela's relations with its strategic partners, including Russia.