Tag Archives: foreign_policy

A tale of two choices

Posted on January 29, 2015 by

Oil prices tumble, the Russian economy is in recession, the Russian elite is nervous, but Vladimir Putin is smart enough to avoid the traps that the Soviet Union fell into – in a nutshell, this is the argument of Richard … Continue reading →

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Europe’s game – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

In the previous entry, I argued that Europe had to push forward with sanctions on Russia, despite the imminent threat of a Russian economic crisis. However, Europe’s game does not end here. It has to carefully observe the movements within the … Continue reading →

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Europe’s Game – Part 1

Posted on November 20, 2014 by

Pro-Russian rebels held illegal elections in the Donbass on 2 November, which Russia first recognised then only “respected”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities and NATO reported a serious Russian military build-up in Eastern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin was told off at the G20 … Continue reading →

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When the wells run dry

Posted on October 25, 2014 by

Those critical of Western sanctions against Russia usually point at the fact that these measures have so far failed to do their job. They failed to bring meaningful changes in Russia’s foreign and domestic policies and failed to stop the … Continue reading →

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Putin’s Milosevic moment

Posted on August 21, 2014 by

As the world is gearing up for the upcoming talks between Vladimir Putin, Petro Poroshenko and Western officials in Minsk next week, all sides seem to pretend that time works for them and stakes are higher on the other side. … Continue reading →

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Why sanctions may as well work

Posted on July 25, 2014 by

Two days ago, Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes, two renowned experts on Russia’s economy published a short analysis on the possible effect of European and American sanctions on Russia. The outlook was grim, they concluded: not only were sanctions unlikely … Continue reading →

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Not a golden opportunity

Posted on July 19, 2014 by

One of the conclusions many have drawn from the tragedy of flight MH17 was that Vladimir Putin now had the golden opportunity to withdraw from Ukraine – a war he had wanted to end anyway – and blame it all … Continue reading →

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