The next four years are likely to be a difficult period for the US foreign policy
We know pretty well that the US foreign policy has always been and will continue to be bipartisan; Republicans and Democrats usually have many more disagreements on domestic than on international matters. It is also evident that a very important role in the US foreign policy making belongs to the so called Deep State—a powerful stratum of senior non-elected bureaucrats occupying the corner-offices in most important...
The era of great-power dominance is fading. Moscow’s future lies in mastering regional diplomacy
In 2015, when the Russian Armed Forces launched a military operation in Syria, it marked a turning point in the post-Soviet era. The collapse of the USSR had caused a dramatic decline in Russia’s international standing. For two and a half decades after 1991, Moscow worked to regain lost status, prestige, and influence on the world stage.
Syria symbolized the culmination of that process: Russia’s first...
... communications have been severed. With dwindling internal and external resources, it is becoming more difficult for the government to keep the economy afloat and address social issues than during the active phase of hostilities. For their part, the USA, the European Union, and the Gulf Arab states are imposing preconditions that the Syrian government is not yet ready to meet.
The majority of Syrians are struggling to survive in the face of constantly rising prices, shortages of food, energy and ...
Interaction between Latin America and BRICS promises to be mutually enriching
The BRICS Summit held in Kazan from October 22–24, 2024, brought attention to several defining factors regarding Latin American countries that will be important for the continent’s political and economic development in the near term. With the admission of two countries from this region as associate members of the bloc, the Latin American presence in the pool of developing countries seeking to increase their weight in...
On December, 3, 2024, RIAC hosted a roundtable titled US-China Competition: Opportunities for Russia
On December, 3, 2024, RIAC hosted a roundtable titled US-China Competition: Opportunities for Russia. The discussion featured the presentation of an eponymous book produced by the authors of the Center for Applied Analysis of Global Transformations (CAAGT) of RUDN University and edited by Denis Degterev.
The book examines theoretical approaches to analyzing global competition and explores the phenomena...
The best outcome would be a substantive exchange of views with the US on the “Post-INF moratorium” and a parallel unilateral restraint from deploying intermediate-range missiles in Europe
In November 2024, Moscow took two important steps towards strengthening strategic deterrence. First, the updated Fundamentals of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence have been approved and published. Secondly, a “combat test” of the latest Oreshnik missile system was carried out with a strike on the territory of...
Why do countries that initiate sanctions reduce them? How long-term and sustainable is such a process?
Modern literature on economic sanctions focuses on the effectiveness of their application. Scholars and practitioners are interested in the extent to which sanctions help achieve certain political goals—force a political change, cause damage, limit the development of the target country, etc. Much less attention is paid to the issue of lifting or easing sanctions—why do countries that initiate...
The speed of his cabinet nomination announcements tells us that the Republican president-elect has a plan
US President-elect Donald Trump has moved quickly to form his proposed new administration. His team is better prepared to take power than it was in 2016 – when neither the candidate himself nor the vast majority of his supporters believed he could win.
It’s too early to draw far-reaching conclusions, but in general, the composition of the preferred government reflects the ideological and political...
Will Russia continue its “business as usual” aimed at maintaining the existing status-quo or will it be forced to review and to revise its positions towards Israel, Palestinians, Iran and its main partners in the Arab world?
The spectacular comeback of Donald Trump to the White House will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the US overall international positioning, as well as on specific dimensions of the US approaches to various regions of the world. Of course, the US foreign policy has a bipartisan...
The Russian and the Indian approaches to security matters compliment each other and should generate the synergy needed to address the very complicated Asia security agenda
The idea of a collective security system in Asia has become a subject of discussions both in Russia and in India. Each of the two nations, given its size, power, history, military capabilities and political ambitions, has a lot of impact on the overall strategic situation in this part of the world, both are destined to play an...
