This Week at ISN

14 - 18 May 2012 Our Regional Perspectives on Power series continues with a country whose former sphere of influence has undergone massive social, economic and political changes in the past twenty years. This week, we consider how Russia is trying to meet its geopolitical objectives in a rapidly changing world.

Russia and the Post-Soviet Space

Russia on the World Stage
14 May 2012 / ISN Podcast

The Center for Security Studies' Aglaya Snetkov considers how Russia is claiming its place on the world stage. More Together Instead of Against Each Other: The Euro-Atlantic Security Order Must Incorporate Russia
15 May 2012 / ISN Special Feature

The longer the West and Russia go without developing a common vision for the Euro-Atlantic security order, the longer relations between the two actors will remain strained, argue Margarete Klein and Solveig Richter. More Moscow's Vision for the Backyard
16 May 2012 / ISN Special Feature

While Russia remains centrally important to most of the post-Soviet space, Moscow's direct influence across this region is far from assured, writes Samuel Bendett. More Ethnicity, Economics and Energy Russia's Relations with Central and Eastern Europe
17 May 2012 / ISN Special Feature

Russias energy supplies ensure that Moscow maintains a geopolitical foothold in the European part of the former Soviet space, writes Sonia Rothwell. More Central Asia: Moscow Is Back
18 May 2012 / ISN Podcast

Emilbek Joroev argues that Russia is regaining its status as the most influential external actor in Central Asia. However some Central Asian Republics are more dependent upon Moscow than others. More

Security Watch
The Return of Old Putin and the New Future of Russia
14 May 2012

Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin highlights the potential gap between his campaign promises and policy aims and voter expectations, writes Beom-Shik Shin. More Putin and Washington: Is Conflict Inevitable?
15 May 2012

Vladimir Putin, who was inaugurated as president of Russia on May 7, has instructed the Foreign Ministry to ensure compliance with the New START Treaty, writes Fyodor Lukyanov. More

Tackling Azerbaijan's IDP Burden

16 May 2012

The International Crisis Group analyzes Azerbaijan, where two decades since the eruption of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the regional peace process remains stalled, and the internally displaced still wait to return home. More The Caspian's Naval Arms Race
17 May 2012

John CK Daly discusses how a rise in the naval buildup of powers on the Caspian Sea highlights the deepening of unresolved regional tensions. More Central Asia: The Submarine Effect
18 May 2012

Regional difficulties are eroding cooperation and exacerbating conflicts in Central Asia, writes Sheradil Baktygulov. More

ISN Blog
Putin's Next Term
14 May 2012

Andrew Wood analyzes the return to power of Vladimir Putin, and argues that he will need to show purpose and convey a sense of renewal if he is to regain his previous authority. More The Deal and the Rocket: Understanding North Korea's "Inconsistency"
14 May 2012

Yang Gyu Kim and Stephen Ranger look at several scenarios to understand and explain the apparent inconsistencies in the North Korean regimes decision-making process. More Putin's Plans Lack Plausibility: The Future President Writes Alot but Says Very Little
15 May 2012

President-to-be Vladimir Putin has outlined his plans for Russia in a series of newspaper articles. The real question, however, is not what should be done but how the goals can be achieved, writes Katri Pynnniemi. More Nagorno-Karabakh: An Unacceptable Status Quo
16 May 2012

Walter Kemp analyzes how the unresolved status of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to poison relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over twenty years after the two countries went to war over the mountainous region. More Russia is Striving to Implement its Model for the Resolution of the Transnistrian Conflict
17 May 2012

Witold Rodkiewicz writes that visits by Russian senior state officials over the past few weeks in Tiraspol signal an unprecedented sign of Russian interest in the area and an expression of support for this separatist republic. More Is Georgian 'Modernisation' Leading the Country to Serfdom?
18 May 2012

Vakhtang Komakhidze argues that modernizing reforms in Georgia have masked the fact that the government has ridden roughshod over democratic values. More

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