Abstract of the journal number 1, January, 2011

Politics

Russia and the US: the New Start, Missile Defense, Struggle Against Drug Trafficking from Afghanistan, and beyond

S. Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Building the New Start took serious efforts on both sides. The treaty reflects an intricate compromise based on carefully weighed steps and position adjustments Moscow and Washington had to embrace. Some of the New Start formulations resulted from months of negotiating at various levels, including, quite unprecedentedly, the presidential one.

Keywords: New Start, ideology of European missile defense, the Jackson–Vanik amendment

Russia-Norway Treaty: Delimitation Meant to Boost Cooperation

R.Kolodkin

The importance of the treaty is not limited to the sphere of the Russia-Norway bilateral relations. Signing it, the two countries set a pattern for a fair resolution of potentially conflictogenic disputes over the ownership of vast and resource-rich marine areas and for unlocking cooperation opportunities on the basis of compromise.

Keywords: The Treaty of Murmansk, the 1982 Convention, the 1920 Treaty on Spitsbergen, the Russian-Norwegian Commission

Russia-NATO Relations Following the Lisbon Summit

Discussion

As of today, NATO is a unique military organization with exceptional might and sophisticated planning. No longer a mere instrument in the hands of the US or the wider community of Western countries, NATO is evolving into a transnational group and a global financial oligarchy. NATO's transformed strategy no longer carries a reference to a responsibility zone which used to be limited to the Euro-Atlantic space, but sets clearly global objectives such as handling instabilities, risks, and threats arising in any part of the world. It may very well be that – since NATO gives the US and the global financial institutions control over Europe - NATO's main opponents at the moment are the West European countries' elites. The EU is working to lessen its dependence on the US, but, thanks to NATO, Washington's grip on Europe seems to go unchallenged.

Keywords: Russia-NATO summit, Euro-Atlantic Security System, Muslim world, New Start, strategic partnership, Eurasia, limitrophe states, Ivo H. Daalder

The Development of the Relations Between Russia and Spain in the Modern Epoch

Yu. Dubinin

The development of symbolic significance to both the Soviet Union and Spain was needed to raise the relations between the two countries to an essentially new level. The tour of the USSR by King Juan Carlos I was justly regarded as such an event.

Keywords: Diplomatic relations between Russia and Spain, King Juan Carlos I, the Madrid Summit of the OSCE, economic cooperation with Spain, Spanish King”s visit to the USSR

The Eastern Direction

The Eastern Direction in Russia's International Policies: Results and Prospects

A. Borodavkin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

2011 was a difficult but productive year for Russia in terms of its eastern policies, which are premised in the assumptions that the cooperation with the countries of the region increasingly becoming the center of the global economic development is of key importance to Russia's future. It is also understood in Moscow that there is no feasible alternative to Russia's joining the  regional integration which is visibly gaining momentum.

Keywords: Asia Pacific, Russia”s eastern policies, ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), East Asian Community (EAC), ASEAN Regional Forum, Euro-Atlantics

2010. Is Russia Eying the East?

Discussion

Russia should attempt to position itself adequately in the realm of the region's complex geopolitics and take a more active role in the integration which is underway in Asia Pacific. In fact, the perceptions of Russia vary widely across the region. On the one hand, it is seen as a politically influential country and as a counterforce to the hyperpower exercised by other major players. On the other, at the moment Russia clearly lacks economic might and is oftentimes viewed with suspicion, in part due to civilizational regards.

Keywords: ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), ASEAN Regional Forum, Russia’s Far East, Russian presence in Asia Pacific, Russia’s eastern policies

Multilateral diplomacy

The UN in the Fight Against Drugs and Organized Crime

Yu. Fedotov, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime is fighting against various types of international crime including the drug business, slavery, corruption, money laundering, and terrorism, an array of challenges that only a coordinated and integral approach can help to face. For example, dealing with the narcotics problem one has to realize that drug trafficking is largely made possible by corrupt officials' assistance. It is also an open secret that the international terrorism draws much of its financial resources from the drug business. Therefore, the international community should be equipped with a global and comprehensive strategy of fighting the transnational crime.

Keywords: UN Office on Drugs and Crime, international criminal networks, drug business, corruption, human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism

The OSCE Purpose and Mission is to Act Under Critical Circumstances

Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General

It is fair to say that the Astana Summit was highly productive. It was attended by leaders of 25 countries and by other high-ranking officials, and that in itself counts as the organization's major accomplishment. Leaving behind a period of doubts and problems, the OSCE regained its role in maintaining security across Europe. At last we were able to pass a consensus-based declaration confirming the commitment of all countries to the values espoused and obligations imposed by the OSCE across the spectrum of its activities.

Keywords: OSCE, OSCE Summit in Astana

On the Results of the Astana Summit

A. Azimov,Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the OSCE

The OSCE summit which convened in Astana for the first time over the past 11 years was a highlight in the life of the organization. The very fact that leaders of Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian countries held a meeting aimed at rebuilding the culture of political dialog within the OSCE and at setting political guidelines for achieving progress in the future should be appreciated.

Keywords: OSCE Summit in Astana, summits of CIS and Collective Security Treaty Organization, OSCE in the Transcaucasia, common and indivisible security

The UNESCO Grand Jubilee

E. Mitrofanova, Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO and  Chairperson of the Organization’s Executive Board

No doubt, over the past 65 years UNESCO has done a lot to strengthen the world's peace and security. Peace, however, cannot be fully maintained as long as poverty and illiteracy continue to exist, as lack of understanding between nations and cultures persists, and as proper care is not being taken of our common material and spiritual heritage. Remedying the above problems is the mission of UNESCO in the present-day world.

Keywords: UNESCO, Executive Council, education, Africa, gender equality, UN millenium development goals, World Heritage

Editor's Column

Reading the New Year From Right to Left

When I complained to my friend, incidentally a historian, that picking a subject for the New Year paper was an uphill task, he suggested writing about “the New Year read from right to left”. As he explained, he developed a habit of recalling – as an intellectual exercise – what developments the global history saw in the “mirrored” year. Indeed, the idea of picturing 1102 seemed curious in the context.

Keywords: King Henry I of England, Seawulf, the Holy Land, Pope Urban II, Crusades, Vasily Klyuchevsky

The Russian World

The Sergei Courtyard Between the Past and the Future

Y. Grachev, O. Ozerov

In December 2010, it has been two years since Russia retrieved the Sergei Courtyard, which symbolized the Russian presence in Palestine. Since May, 2009, the Sergei Courtyard lives under the flag of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, an international public organization which will celebrate its 130^th anniversary in 2012.

Keywords: Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society, St. Sergius Mission, Israel, Russian Palestinian Society, the Holy Land, Russian mission, Russian Orthodox Church

Prospects

Global Strategic Forecast 2030

Awareness is growing across the world that - no matter how rogue regimes and radical groups may hate the idea - individual countries increasingly have to make concerted efforts aimed at resolving global problems in order to put into practice their individual development agendas. The world's development in the coming 20 years will be evolutionary and free from dramatic discontinuities or painful transformations which marked the past couple of decades. Countries will be moving towards greater international coordination and increasingly empowering global and regional governance institutes to ensure the financial stability, to promote socioeconomic development, to facilitate innovation, and to maintain security.

Keywords: Strategic forecast 2030, global trends, Russia”s adaptation to global trends, Russia”s positive influence on global develoment

Humanitarian Ties

The Russian Polyphony in Spaso House

Lev Kantorovich said in an interview to International Affairs observer A. Moiseyev: “Though music should generally keep out of politics, it still remains an instrument that can, among other things, help solve serious political problems. Music resonates with all kinds of people, it can be understood by everyone, and  hearing its positive message does not take knowing a particular language”.

Keywords: Spaso House, Orfei radio, Choral Singing Masters, ties in the cultural sphere

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