The New Cold War

July 2008

Chavez: I'd Welcome Russian Troops in Venezuela

newser | BBC | Jul 23, 08 3:10 AM CDT

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is on a two-day trip to Moscow seeking closer military and economic ties —and raising the possibility that Russian troops may be stationed in Venezuela. Chavez and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev have already agreed to extend an energy partnership and are negotiating an arms deal and military co-operation, reports the BBC. More »
Obama Advisers Rip Mac Plan to Expel Russia From G-8

newser | Los Angeles Times | Jul 9, 08 6:00 PM CDT

John McCain is off-base in his suggestion Russia should be booted from the Group of 8, two former Clinton cabinet officials—and current Obama advisers—write in the Los Angeles Times . Sure, Moscow has departed from democracy, Madeline Albright and William Perry allow, but the US stands a better chance of changing the nation's ways if it's not hung up on “symbolism and protocol.” More »
Kissinger: US Must Temper Approach as Russia Evolves

newser | Washington Post | Jul 8, 08 11:41 AM CDT

Dmitry Medvedev has more power than some in the West believe, and Russia's political system is still evolving as Vladimir Putin moves from president to prime minister, Henry Kissinger writes in the Washington Post —and it behooves the US to throttle back. "The pace of such an evolution will inevitably be Russian," he writes. "We can affect it more by patience and historical understanding than by offended disengagement and public exhortations." More »
Brits: Russia Played Role in Ex-KGB Agent's London Murder

newser | BBC | Jul 8, 08 6:29 AM CDT

The murder of a former KGB agent in London 2 years ago was carried out with the support of the Russian government, British government sources have told the BBC. There are "very strong indications it was a state action," said one senior official. Alexander Litvinenko, who was mysteriously poisoned, was a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin. More »
Oh Napoleon: Tiny Leaders Rule G8

newser | ABC News | Jul 6, 08 1:47 PM CDT

The leaders at this week's G8 summit are all political big shots, but they're pretty diminutive face-to-face—five don't even make it past 5'6''. Russia's Dmitry Medvedev brings up the short end of the stick at 5'2'', and Canada's Stephen Harper is the only one to pass the 6' mark. But luckily for the G8, reports ABC News, the Napoleon complex is just a myth. More »

June 2008

Post-Soviet States May Be Hot Zone in New Cold War

newser | Christian Science Monitor | Jun 25, 08 2:17 PM CDT

Unsettled ex-Soviet republics could become the scenes of proxy battles in a new cold war, the Christian Science Monitor reports, with the breakaway Georgia region of Abkhazia a case in point. The US and NATO are backing Georgia, with Russia supporting the separatists. "Tensions are growing very fast, and we find ourselves on the line of confrontation between Russia and the West," one Abkhazian academic says. More »
Lithuania's Negative Energy Bad for Europe

newser | Economist | Jun 20, 08 5:25 PM CDT

Lithuanians "should be furious" with politicians who have backed the Baltic nation into a "potentially appalling" crisis of energy and policy, the Economist notes. As condition for its admission to the European Union, Lithuania promised to shutter its Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009—and pols have made no move to replace the energy, raising the specter of bargaining with Russia. More »

May 2008

Murder Suspect Unrepentant in Moscow

newser | Guardian (UK) | May 21, 08 4:15 PM CDT

To Britain, he’s a wanted man, a murderer responsible for a diplomatic crisis. To Russia, he’s a respected, successful politician. So it was an unrepentant Andrei Lugovoi who sat down with the Guardian ’s Luke Harding. The ex-KGB man insists he did not poison dissident Alexander Litvinenko by placing radioactive polonium in his tea. Instead, he sees himself as a victim. More »
Honeymoon Can't Last for Russia's Power Couple

newser | Wall Street Journal | May 17, 08 3:01 PM CDT

It may look like Vladimir Putin has kept Russia stable by sliding into the PM's chair; optimists even predict he'll share power politely with President Medvedev. But these lovebirds are actually destined to fight, writes Ivan Krastev in the Wall Street Journal: Eventually Medvedev will want to exercise power, and not as Putin’s “mini-me.” More »
NATO Girds For Cyberwar

newser | ComputerWorld | May 15, 08 4:43 PM CDT

NATO is preparing for cyberwar, ComputerWorld reports. Sparked by a cyber attack on Estonia that took some financial systems off-line for hours in 2007, the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence will open there next year. With the center’s help, NATO will be able to "defy and successfully counter the threats in this area," a commander said. More »
Russia Parades Its Might, With Soviet Echoes

newser | New York Times | May 9, 08 1:46 PM CDT

Russia marked the 63rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany today with a parade of Soviet-era of tanks, missile launchers, and columns of foot soldiers, the New York Times reports. President-turned-prime-minister Vladimir Putin and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, looked on, surrounded by the contrast of communist ritual with symbols of modern Russia's cut-throat capitalism. More »
McCain Takes Hard Line on Putin's Russia

newser | Bloomberg | May 6, 08 9:35 AM CDT

John McCain says he favors expelling Russia from the G8 and forming a "league of democracies" to confront Moscow about rights abuses. The Republican candidate has fallen in with hard-line advisers, spurning pragmatists who favor dialogue and taking a tougher approach than his Democratic rivals. As Dmitry Medvedev prepares to become president tomorrow, Bloomberg looks at what Russia can expect from a new American administration. More »

April 2008

Gorbachev Plays the Hard Rock

newser | Miami Herald | Apr 16, 08 6:27 PM CDT

An unlikely entertainer is taking the stage tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the Miami Herald reports: former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev, 77, will speak on peace in a venue where country crooner Reba McEntire and guitar legend Carlos Santana are also booked this month. More »
Bush and Putin Part, Missile Differences Intact

newser | Reuters | Apr 6, 08 10:54 AM CDT

President Bush and Vladimir Putin ended their last meeting as heads of state today by agreeing they like each other—and little else. Washington had hoped the Black Sea summit would yield a compromise over US plans to build a missile defense shield in eastern Europe. “We’ve got more work to do to convince the Russian side that the system is not aimed at Russia,” Bush said. More »
Bush, Putin Cordial, But Missile Deal Unlikely

newser | Associated Press | Apr 5, 08 1:47 PM CDT

Vladimir Putin gave President Bush a warm welcome today, but US-Russian relations seem set to remain frosty on at least one foreign policy front, the AP reports. The two are unlikely to reach a consensus on a proposed missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, a White House spokeswoman said. “We’re going to have to do more work,” she said. “We are still in the early part of these discussions.” More »
NATO Sides With Bush on Missile Defense Plan

newser | New York Times | Apr 3, 08 6:02 PM CDT

NATO today backed a plan by President Bush to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, the New York Times reports, but would not go along with encouraging Ukraine and Georgia to pursue membership in the alliance. Both steps had been opposed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is to visit the meeting in Romania tomorrow. More »
NATO Bars Former Soviet States in Blow to US

newser | Bloomberg | Apr 3, 08 4:00 AM CDT

In a blow to the US, a divided NATO has refused to permit membership bids by former Soviet states Georgia and the Ukraine. The decision is an indication that Europe is wary of antagonizing an increasingly belligerant Russia, Bloomberg reports. Germany and France led the opposition to membership. In another defeat for American diplomacy, Greece blocked the admission of Macedonia. More »
Bush Asks NATO for More Afghanistan Troops

newser | BBC | Apr 2, 08 7:26 AM CDT

George W. Bush urged his NATO allies to join Romania and France in committing more troops to the war in Afghanistan. “We cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan,” he said. “Whatever the cost, however difficult…we must win.” The speech comes ahead of a major NATO summit beginning today in Bucharest, where Bush will push for more troops and a membership path for Ukraine and Georgia. More »
BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin in Nato summit spotlight

BBC | Apr 2, 08

The Nato summit that begins on Wednesday in the Romanian capital Bucharest is already being billed as the biggest in the alliance's 59-year history
Bush Backs Ukraine's NATO Bid

newser | Reuters | Apr 1, 08 8:20 AM CDT

President Bush today declared his unequivocal support for the entry of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, a position sure to anger Russia, Reuters notes. “Your nation has made a bold decision, and the United States strongly supports your request,” Bush said, flanked by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. But both former Soviet states are expected to be blocked by French and German opposition. More »