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In a well-reasoned broadside, The Washington Post’s editorial board blasted President Obama’s Russian policy and his Berlin speech this past Thursday.The editorial justly criticized the naiveté with which Obama reached out to Russian president Vladimir Putin with a badly thought out proposal to cut a third of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, while ignoring Russia’s pointed lack of cooperation on a number of other key issues.
By Ariel Cohen
June 21, 2013
The formation of a Eurasian Union (EAU) is the next in a series of Russian initiatives to reassert control over the former Soviet space. The Eurasian Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, if it follows the course that Russia will set, could threaten regional stability and undermine economic and political freedom in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
By Ariel Cohen
June 14, 2013
Testimony in front of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues/Subcommittee on European Affairs
By Ariel Cohen
June 13, 2013
In a scene reminiscent of the spy thriller TV series “The Americans,” Russian FSB secret police Monday night detained and then released an alleged CIA operative, Ryan Christopher Fogle, who is a Third Secretary at U.S. Embassy Moscow. The Russian government later declared him “Persona Non Grata” (PNG) and expelled him from the country.
By Ariel Cohen
May 15, 2013
This past Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Kremlin.Kerry was seeking to repair frayed ties with Russia and obtain Moscow’s assistance with a settlement in Syria. The U.S. and its allies hope to put an end to the civil war, and the Obama Administration wants Russia to help.
By Ariel Cohen
May 9, 2013
Dr. Cohen’s speech at the National Security Group lunch at the Center for Security Policy.Center for Security Policy
May 9, 2013
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a scathing new report focused on the crackdown on Russia’s civil society. Since December 2011, the Kremlin has committed to squashing nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that promote democracy and are alleged conduits of Western influence, HRW says.
By Ariel Cohen and Benjamin Tigay
May 8, 2013
Shifts in Turkey’s domestic political orientation have led to a change in Ankara’s perceptions of its foreign policy roles and capabilities. The US has misunderstood and largely ignored this shift, failing to understand the implications of Turkey’s transformation under the AKP. A strong and comprehensive policy towards Turkey is long overdue.
By Ariel Cohen
May 1, 2013
Boston Marathon bombers have brought greater attention to Russia’s volatile North Caucasus, their ancestral home. As painful their heinous acts are, however, the bombers’ actions are just a footnote to the history of insurgency and connections to global Islamist networks in the North Caucasus.
By Ariel Cohen
April 26, 2013
THE Boston Marathon attack by two young Chechen men demonstrates the global nature and deep historic roots of contemporary Islamist terrorism.It also indicates that major sports competitions, concerts and other events are targets for terrorists and sends the warning to the organisers of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia: “You are next”.
By Ariel Cohen
April 21, 2013
When the Russian Foreign Ministry released its updated Foreign Policy Concept in February, codifying Russia’s global strategies, Washington yawned. Yet this document reveals much about the emerging “Putin Doctrine.” It further separates Russia from Western Europe and is especially critical of the United States.
By Ariel Cohen
April 5, 2013
Russia’s objections to U.S. missile defense development and deployment have been on the agenda of consecutive American Administrations starting with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. For President Obama, it became a high priority as Moscow turned missile defense disagreement into a principal bone of contention.
By Ariel Cohen
April 1, 2013
What does growing U.S. oil production mean for energy markets and geopolitics?
By Ariel Cohen
March 26, 2013
China’s new president Xi Jinping will make his first official foreign visit later this month. He will visit Russia, in a trip Chinese sources say “will improve relations and cement strategic partnership.”
By Ariel Cohen
March 14, 2013
London mayor Boris Johnson published an op-ed Monday in which he decried the posthumous trial of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.Johnson called Magnitsky “a martyr trampled by a corrupt system” and called on the United Kingdom and the European Union to pass a Magnitsky Act—which levies financial sanctions and visa restrictions on the Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death—of its own.
By Ariel Cohen
March 13, 2013
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives
By Ariel Cohen December 5, 2012
As election eve in the United States approaches, Moscow is hoping for a return of the incumbent.During a recent meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, a forum for exchanging views on Russia, at least three senior Russian officials announced that the U.S. president’s reelection would be good for Russia. This is hardly surprising. Russians respect and get along with power.
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest
November 5, 2012
On October 16–28, the world is marking the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a standoff between the United States and the former Soviet Union that nearly ended in a nuclear war between the two superpowers.
The confrontation of the Cold War still affects the relationship between the U.S. and Russia to this day and is a cautionary tale in a world where nuclear proliferation is rampant.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation, October 18, 2012
On October 3, the FBI reported [1] it had charged 11 people with running a military technology procurement network based in the United States and Russia that was allegedly illegally procuring [2] and exporting high-tech microelectronics to the Russian military and intelligence services. Alexander Fishenko, the owner of the Houston-based Arc Electronics Inc., was charged with operating as an unregistered foreign agent.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation, October 5, 2012
The Tavan Tolgoi coal mine in southern Mongolia.Eight hundred years after Genghis Khan, Mongolia is back in the news. Nicknamed “Mine-golia,” it is enjoying the largest energy and raw-materials boom [3] on the planet. Today, Mongolia boasts the world’s third-largest copper mine [4], as well as one of the largest coal mines.In the first quarter of 2012, Mongolia’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 16.7 percent.
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest
September 27, 2012
On Wednesday, Under Secretary of Defense Jim Miller argued that the Obama Administration’s “reset” policy with Russia had succeeded.
According to Miller, rapproachment with Russia has enabled the U.S. to diversify supply routes into Afghanistan and implement tough sanctions against Iran.
Miller’s claim does not pass the reality test on several levels.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation, September 20, 2012
Last week, General Sergei Karakayev, Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, announced [2] plans for a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to go into production as soon as 2018. He emphasized that the new missile would be capable of penetrating the NATO missile shield Russia dislikes so much.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation
September 13, 2012
Russia hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this past weekend in its Pacific port of Vladivostok. It was a clear signal that Moscow’s interest in Asia is rising as the traditional market for its energy and raw materials—the euro zone—wallows in crisis and stagnation. And After America’s much-ballyhooed “pivot to Asia,” it is now Russia’s turn.
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest, September 11, 2012
Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 6156, the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal Act of 2012, by voice vote with only one “nay.” This is a step in the right direction, given that Russia will join the World Trade Organization (WTO) on August 22.The 1974 Jackson–Vanik amendment denies Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status...
By Ariel Cohen, Michaela Bendikova, and Bryan Riley
July 27, 2012
American Leadership, The Heritage Foundation
