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Last Friday, Russia’s Kommersant, a leading newspaper, reported that United Russia, the ruling political party, is about to submit a bill in the Duma that would tighten the activity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) financed by foreign funds. This step is likely to severely curb freedom of speech in Russia.
By Ariel Cohen and Dmitri Titoff
July 2, 2012 American Leadership, The Heritage Foundation
On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relation Committee unanimously passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which would ban Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death from entering the U.S. and using U.S. financial institutions. The bill was cleared earlier this month by a House committee.
By Ariel Cohen
June 29, 2012
American Leadership, The Heritage Foundation
INTERVIEW - Ariel Cohen, directeur de recherche en charge de la Russie à la Heritage Foundation, analyse la signification des récents mouvements d'opposition en Russie à la lumière du printemps arabe.
By Ariel Cohen
Le Figaro, June 26, 2012
Central Asia, especially Kazakhstan—rich in oil and gas, and the world’s largest landlocked country—is the focus of many Fortune 500 companies seeking new business development and market penetration in emerging economies. In the 2012 edition of the Index of Economic Freedom, Kazakhstan’s economy ranks as the 65th-freest in the world.
By Ariel Cohen and James M. Roberts
The Heritage Foundation
June 26, 2012
Competing aggressively with the United States for the “hearts and minds” of people around the world, many state and non-state actors are funneling significant resources into their public diplomacy strategies. The Chinese government announced in 2009 that it would spend almost $7 billion on a “global media drive” to improve its image. The Russian government allocated $1.4 billion for international propaganda in 2010.
The Heritage Foundation, June 21, 2012
President Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin met at the G-20 summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The meeting’s results disappointed realists and international interventionists alike.
The two leaders failed to reach agreements on core geopolitical issues. But the body language said it all: after the two hour meeting the two barely looked at each other, and Reuters reported their demeanor as “cool and detached.”
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest
June 20, 2012
Today, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting [1] at the G-20 summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This meeting is likely will be tense, as the two leaders have fundamentally different agendas regarding some of the most pressing international problems.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation, June 18, 2012
Progress on the ability of U.S. firms to take advantage of new business opportunities when Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) took a step forward yesterday when Senate leaders acknowledged that legislation to promote human rights will be a condition needed for permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to move forward, too.
By Ariel Cohen and Bryan Riley
The Heritage Foundation, June 13, 2012
There are many stories of Western oil-company adventures in Russia. Some of them end well, and some of them end badly.
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest, June 11,2012
This Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will put the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act up for a vote. The bill seeks “to impose sanctions on persons responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky, and for other gross violations of human rights in the Russian Federation, and for other purposes.”
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation
June 5, 2012
Late last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her tour of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. In Scandinavia, she was to address several forums on climate change and green energy. While in Sweden, she also planned to discuss Internet freedom, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
By Ariel Cohen
The National Interest, June 4, 2012
U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will engage in intense geopolitical discussions in the Caucasus and Turkey during her visit, the leading expert of the Heritage Foundation for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, member of Trend Expert Council, Ariel Cohen said.
Today.AZ
May 31, 2012
The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan is a small country sandwiched between Russia and Iran along the coast of the Caspian Sea, which is in fact the largest salt lake on earth, not a sea. Americans should not feel bad if they can't find it on a geography quiz. But due to its unique location, the country is playing an increasingly important role in the West’s confrontation with Iran.
The National Interest,
March 21, 2012
On Monday, Washington and Moscow clashed yet again in the U.N. Security Council over what to do about the bloody conflict in Syria. Neither side came up with a solution the other one agrees to. But this rivalry is about much more than just Syria.
By Ariel Cohen
The Heritage Foundation
March 13, 2012
December marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s a fitting time, then, to take stock of what was achieved — and what failed — in Eurasia over the last two decades.
By Ariel Cohen
The New York Times
By Ariel Cohen
Last Friday, this author had the opportunity to dine in the company of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, his senior staff, and the attendees of the annual Valdai Club meeting at Le Cheval Blanc, a gourmet restaurant in Moscow.
By Ariel Cohen
Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia would deploy short-range missiles and possibly withdraw from the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) if the United States moves forward with its plans for a missile-defense system in Europe. Russian threats are yet another indicator that the “reset” in relations between Moscow and Washington is on its last leg.
Last Friday, this author had the opportunity to dine in the company of Vladimir Putin, his senior staff, and the attendees of the annual Valdai Club meeting in Moscow. Despite its location at an upscale riding club, the dinner was delicious, and horse meat was not on the menu.
Moscow has shown yet again that it is determined to protect Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Russia and China have asked Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) director general, to stall U.S.-backed plans to publicize information on Iran’s nuclear program. This information is available in a diplomatic note acquired by the Associated Press.
Obama’s "Change" Didn’t Happen, Republicans to Return?
10-27-2010
Interview with Ariel Cohen
We spoke to Ariel Cohen a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation for his expert view on what changes are in store for U.S. policy after the upcoming U.S. elections his candid answers regarding START, health care, the economy and military spending are worth listening to.
Ariel Cohen and Anton Altman
Russia is bemoaning the passing of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi, an old friend and client of the Soviet Union and a reliable customer for Russian arms sales. But Qadhafi belongs to the 20th century. In the 21st, Russia has new interests in Africa, and the Libyan strongman’s passing will not derail them for long.
Ariel Cohen and Anatoliy Khomenko
On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev forced Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to resign.
Medvedev’s harsh treatment of Kudrin was a response to the statement Kudrin made over the weekend. Following the announcement of Vladimir Putin running for president in the upcoming presidential elections and Medvedev’s future job as the prime minister.
By Ariel Cohen
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s return to power means stability - and stagnation - for Russians and a tough counterpart for both America and Russia’s neighbors. Putin’s nomination to the Russian presidency means that he may become the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, who ruled for almost 30 years.
Ariel Cohen
Russia’s political-scandal season has reached a boiling point. On Thursday, September 16, Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s third-richest man (estimated personal net worth: $18 billion), was ousted from the helm of The Right Cause, his own June-launched political party. By week’s end, the scandal epitomized Russia’s centrally managed, sclerotic and brittle political system and the deteriorating political climate in which it heads into the 2012 elections.
Yesterday, the State Department released an official reaction to media reports on upcoming joint naval exercises between Russia and North Korea.The U.S. declared that “any engagement with the North Koreans should be conducted in a way that does not detract from the international community’s clear message of concern about the North’s weapons programs, and the necessity for Pyongyang to do what is necessary to return to the Six-Party talks.”
