Europe, the US, and Russia are confronting a range of significant issues today. The practical near-term steps that we have identified here are the right place to begin. We need to start now.
The chasm between Russia and the West appears to be wider now than at any point since the Cold War. But, despite stark differences, there are areas of existential common interest. As we did during the darkest days of the Cold War, Americans, Europeans, and Russians must work together to avoid catastrophe,...
It may be said that the future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (the INF Treaty) is assured. Moreover, should a critical situation arise, the United States is more likely to withdraw from it than Russia. The INF Treaty is beneficial for the Kremlin, since without it, the United States could deploy major medium-range missile forces in Western Europe, creating a high level of danger for Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons deployed in the European part of Russia and for the command...
... Security Leadership Group
Dear friends and colleagues,
All of our recent meetings started with a pessimistic note: the situation with the Euro-Atlantic security was getting worse and worse. Indeed, today we have arguably reached the lowest point in international security since the end of the Cold War. Still, do we have any reasons to be optimistic about the future? I think that we do. The new important dimension of the situation in January of 2017 is that in all of our countries they start to understand ...
RIAC and Valdai Club Working Paper
This working paper unites the articles prepared within the framework of Russian International Affairs Council and «Valdai» discussion forum.
The author shares his view on key trends in Russia-NATO and Russia-EU relations after the NATO Summit in Warsaw and new EU Global Strategy being announced. The paper evaluates the causes of crisis in the relations as well as suggests possible measures to solve the issues in the sphere of security.
Author: Ivan Timofeev, Director...
NTI Report
Russia and the West are at a dangerous crossroads. During the past several years, we have been in a state of escalating tension, trapped in a downward spiral of antagonism and distrust. With our militaries moving closer—in the skies over the Baltic Sea, in the depths of the North Atlantic, and across the Middle East—the risks of miscalculation or accident and escalation are unacceptably high. Unless Western and Russian leaders take immediate steps to improve transparency and enhance...
On December 1–3 St. Petersburg hosted the
V International Cultural Forum
. The event was organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of St. Petersburg with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and brought together politicians, journalists, and art community from 82 countries of the world. Greece became the guest country at 2016 Forum.
One of the key topics of the Forum was the preservation of the world cultural heritage. In particular,...
The Baltic Scenarios
The Baltic of today is a most intricate area for Russia-NATO interaction. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, all of them members of the alliance, serve as its frontier zone in direct contact with its Eastern neighbour. Even before the Ukrainian crisis, these countries had been sceptical about security cooperation with Russia. Moscow also had some questions and disliked many things, among them Poland's intention to deploy elements of the American BMD system; the Polish,...
Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election has generated an enormous amount of speculation about the future of US foreign policy. Indeed, the campaign rhetoric of the president-elect featured a large number of high-profile statements. Clearly, his real policy should and will be characterized by much greater restraint and caution. Ultimately, the president does not make decisions all by himself. He is constrained by Congress. His opinion is filtered through the sieve of intelligence...
On November 24-25, 2016, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) hosted a Russia-Georgia expert meeting on Russia-Georgia cooperation in the area of security. The event was held within the framework of the RIAC and International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (
ICCN
)
(Georgia) project «Assistance to Russia-Georgia Dialogue» with the support of the Human Security Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.
The Russian delegation included Ivan Timofeev...
... with unpredictable consequences. As part of the Baltic Sea Region, Russia has prior experience of constructive cooperation with NATO in the form of providing the Baltic Transit Train in support of non-military deliveries and reverse transit for the International Security Assistance Force with the use of the transportation and logistics infrastructure owned by Russia and the Baltic States, as well as in the form of mutual overflights on the basis of the Treaty on Open Skies, even during the Ukrainian ...
