Latest blog items
 Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Belarus: Avenue of IndependencePublished 2.3.2010 For a few years already the main street of Minsk has been called the Avenue of Independence. Since this is the major artery linking the city with its international airport and, most importantly, the Moscow highway, renaming of the street was an unmistakable signal to the external world about Belarus’s priority – to be viewed as a truly independent country, definitely friendly towards Russia, but no less definitely separate from it. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Will we see a reset between EU and Russia?Published 2.2.2010 In recent years the stagnation in relations between the European Union and Russia has become obvious to all independent observers. Of course, routines are followed, summits are held twice a year and diplomatic niceties are regularly said. But in practice the picture looks as follows. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme The legacy of 1989 and 10 years of Putin's RussiaPublished 9.11.2009 Today, the nations that once lived under the Communist rule differ strongly. Some have successfully completed the transition towards market economy and liberal democracy. Some still hope to achieve this goal. Some found the transition to be mission impossible and have essentially established sultanist regimes, even hereditary. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Russian comebackPublished 12.10.2009 In recent years a lot was said about Russia’s resurgence. While some commentators are paying more attention to its rediscovered readiness to use force to back up the political statements, which culminated in the war with Georgia, others point out to the soft power in Moscow’s possession. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme EU and Russia: overcoming or building the non-partnership?Published 4.5.2009 In early April the European parliament adopted Recommendation to the Council on the new EU-Russia agreement. This is a comprehensive and honest document, full of concerns as regards the state of relations between the EU and Russia. And these concerns are worth sharing. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Belarus: New hope for EU Eastern Policy?Published 9.3.2009 In recent months one could witness an unprecedented amount of high-level contacts between European organizations and Belarus, which culminated in a February trip to Minsk of EU top foreign policy official, Javier Solana. Apparently, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko returned to the EU list of “handshake-worthy” foreign leaders. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Deja Vu: Russian-Ukrainian Gas CrisisPublished 5.1.2009 It is, actually, very good that Europeans have holidays at the end and not in the beginning of the year. Otherwise some top EU bureaucrats would have to interrupt their vacations, just as their Russian and Ukrainian colleagues do, to deal with yet another energy conflict between Moscow and Kiev - a trouble as habitual and annoying these days as a snowless New Year’s night. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme Russia and EU: the double contextPublished 10.11.2008 It is axiomatic that Russia-EU relations at the moment have dualist nature. One does not need to be an expert to say that, on the one hand, the parties are engaged into a relationship of critical economic interdependence coupled with a well-developed and institutionalized bureaucratic interaction, but that, on the other hand, the value gap between the two is growing and, consequently, the ability to agree on fundamental policy issues is decreasing. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme "What will happen with Russia?"Published 30.10.2008 This is the title of an analytical report published this week on the web-site of the Russian INDEM Foundation, mostly known outside the country for its work on Russian corruption. The paper outlines several scenarios of Russian political development. » |
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Arkady Moshes
Programme Director - Russia in the Regional and Global Context research programme To please, or not to pleasePublished 1.10.2008 1 comment(s) I regularly give talks on EU-Russian relations at the External Policy Training seminar, arranged by the European Institute of Public Administration for the staffers of the European Commission in Brussels. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with all these practitioners and I enjoy the discussion every time. More often than not, I return under impression that the people I am invited to talk to do not really need my recommendations. They know everything themselves. And I could definitely say the same about many civil servants, not only diplomats, who deal with Russia professionally. » |