The next round of sanctions may disrupt the dialogue on arms control, which is of interest to the United States
The adoption of an amendment to the defense budget for 2020 by the US House of Representatives provoked a public outcry in Russia. The amendment, introduced by Brad Sherman (D), is to prohibit buying of the Russian sovereign debt in retaliation for meddling in US elections. Many Russian media outlets carried alarmist or even panicky headlines. Indeed, the amendment is far from being good...
In terms of global strategic architecture, China, Russia, and the US are crucial to the world. How can Beijing and Moscow deepen cooperation? How will the 2020 US presidential elections affect Russia-US ties? Global Times (GT) reporter Lu Yuanzhi talked to Andrey Kortunov (Kortunov), director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, on these issues at the sidelines of the Eighth World Peace Forum held in Beijing recently.
In terms of global strategic architecture, China, Russia, and...
... international system had remained unipolar, the liberal world order would have devolved into an agnostic order under President Trump. In actual fact, D. Trump is seemingly bent on wrecking it.
Summing up his research, Mearsheimer concludes that the various causal processes described in his paper have all played an important role in subverting the liberal international order. Although each one has a distinct logic, they have often operated synergistically. For example, the negative effects of hyper-globalization ...
How to ensure security and freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf?
In recent weeks, the world’s attention has been riveted on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. On May 12, four tankers owned by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were attacked by unknown forces when entering the Strait off the coast of Fujairah. On June 13, this time near the Iranian coast, two more tankers flying the flags of the Marshall Islands and Panama were attacked. The incidents occurred against the backdrop...
China’s flexible energy policy and the US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela
In the last few years, China’s energy policy has changed radically owing to both the changed priorities in domestic policy and sharp bifurcations in the international situation. As the growth pace of the national economy slowed down, China’s leadership announced a course of stimulating domestic consumption and of rebuilding the economy by expanding the services sector and emphasizing innovations. China’s leaders also...
Russia and Canada face the need to build a balanced and cautious policy about non-Arctic states
The Arctic is currently undergoing significant transformations that are the result of climate change and the global general political processes. One of the trends that has taken shape in recent years is the growing activity of extra-regional actors in the Arctic. Non-Arctic states are paying ever greater attention to the region. It is telling that almost all the non-Arctic states have, over the past...
Speech at the 8th World Peace Forum, Beijing, 8 July 2019
On July 8–9, 2019, the 8th World Peace Forum was held in Beijing. It is one of the most representative and authoritative events on international security and strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific. Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) has been participating in the event since 2012, since the Forum was launched. Igor Ivanov, RIAC President, made a report at the plenary session of the Forum “Geopolitics and Relations among Major Powers”...
The second decade of the 21st century began with a string of explosive protests in the Middle East and North Africa, which have destabilized not only the countries that saw violent regime change but the entire region. A way out of the profound systemic crisis is yet to be found. Most countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) have launched the needed socioeconomic reforms, albeit belatedly, but outcomes are difficult to predict. In other parts of the Arab world (Syria, Libya, Yemen)...
On June 26th and 27th of 2019, 20 presidential hopefuls of the Democratic party, in two groups of 10, debated each other on a variety of issues impacting the United States of America, from climate change to immigration to health care. Unsurprisingly, foreign policy was also mentioned in parts of the debate, as the new president would serve as commander-in-chief of the United States military. While it is still uncertain which party, let alone candidate, will win the presidency in 2020, Russia remains...
Russia needs to clearly define its long-term priorities and interests within the BRI
President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and President of the United States Donald Trump met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 29 to discuss the resumption of trade and economic talks between the two countries. The United States also promised that it would not introduce additional tariffs on Chinese goods. The world collectively breathed a sigh of relief, as the trade war between...
