Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1882
Negotiations with Iran: a casualty of Crimea?;
A sea-change in Sevastopol
Negotiations with Iran: a casualty of Crimea?;
A sea-change in Sevastopol
Thinking beyond Putin;
Crimea votes
China develops smog-killing drones;
China, Russia agree to rail bridge across Amur River
Are we on the cusp of a new Cold War? The events of the past month have put the final nail in the coffin of the ill-fated "reset" with Russia that preoccupied much of the Obama administration's foreign policy agenda during its first years in office. Relations between Moscow and Washington are now at their lowest ebb in more than two decades thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin's neo-imperial efforts to subvert neighboring Ukraine. Washington and European capitals are still struggling to formulate a coherent response to the Kremlin's aggression, but it's already clear that the U.S. and Russia are drifting back into the old adversarial roles that defined the international system for much of the past century.
Vice President Biden was in Warsaw last week to reassure our eastern NATO allies that they have the support of a “steadfast ally.” But if Russia moved against Poland or the Baltic States, would the United States really go to war? Or would we do nothing and effectively destroy the NATO alliance?