The power struggle that has dominated Ukrainian politics since the Orange Revolution of 2004/2005 will be at least partially resolved by the country’s upcoming presidential elections -- elections that are now almost certain to sweep the greatly unpopular pro-Western president, Victor Yushchenko, from power. What will come after remains to be seen.

On February 9, 2009, the American Foreign Policy Council convened a Capitol Hill conference on U.S. policy toward Russia. The high-profile event featured presentations by AFPC President Herman Pirchner, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Army War College Professor Stephen Blank, and AFPC Senior Associate E. Wayne Merry.

On Tuesday February 3, AFPC hosted a small working luncheon with Mr. Victor Suvorov. Suvorov, a former Soviet army officer who served in military intelligence, defected in 1978 to the United Kingdom. He is the author of eighteen books that have been translated into more than twenty languages. His better known works included: Inside the Aquarium: the Making of a Top Soviet Spy and Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?

The Fall 2008 issue of Demokratizatsiya, the scholarly journal of post-Soviet democratization, carried AFPC President Herman Pirchner”s 14 page article, “The Uncertain Future Sino-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century”.

On October 15 and 16, 2008, the annual roundtable series titled Ukraine’s Quest for Mature Nation Statehood was held at the Library of Congress, also the event’s principal sponsor. AFPC is a longtime partner and co-sponsor of the series, and as a member of the event’s Steering Committee, AFPC’s Jeff Smith worked with the conference organizer, Center for US-Ukrainian Relations founder Walter Zaryckj, to plan and coordinate the two-day event.

On September 1, 2008, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman was interviewed on the Voice of America's Russian-language "Talk To America" program regarding the Western response to the Russian-Georgian conflict, and the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.

On August 13, 2008, AFPC President Herman Pirchner was interviewed on the RadioAmerica Network's "G. Gordon Liddy Show" regarding the current conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

AFPC hosted the Washington visit of Russian State Duma member Ilya Ponomarev March 16-20, 2008.

From July 2-9, 2007, former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich led an American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC)-sponsored delegation to Russia. The Moscow meetings took place immediately following the Bush-Putin summit in Maine, which attempted to improve what has become a very difficult and contentious relationship.

From June 16 through June 29, 2007, AFPC President Herman Pirchner, Jr. led a fact-finding delegation to Siberia to examine the Russo-Sino relationship. The group visited numerous cities along the Russia-China border including Irkutsk, Chita, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.