Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, there has been much talk of a new Cold War between the West and Russia. Under Putin’s authoritarian leadership, Moscow is widely seen as volatile, belligerent and bent on using military force to get its way.In this incisive analysis, top Russian foreign and security policy analyst Dmitri Trenin explains why the Cold War analogy is misleading. Relations between the West and Russia are certainly bad and dangerous but - he argues - they are ba...

Over the past century alone, Russia has lived through great achievements and deepest misery; mass heroism and mass crime; over-blown ambition and near-hopeless despair – always emerging with its sovereignty and its fiercely independent spirit intact.In this book, leading Russia scholar Dmitri Trenin accompanies readers on Russia’s rollercoaster journey from revolution to post-war devastation, perestroika to Putin’s stabilization of post-Communist Russia. Explaining the causes and t...

The eyes of the world are on the Middle East. Today, more than ever, this deeply-troubled region is the focus of power games between major global players vying for international influence. Absent from this scene for the past quarter century, Russia is now back with gusto. Yet its motivations, decision-making processes and strategic objectives remain hard to pin down.So just what is Russia up to in the Middle East? In this hard-hitting essay, leading analyst of Russian affairs Dmitr...

Trois dimensions d’une actualité conflictuelle brûlante pour ce numéro de Politique étrangère.Deux ans après l’agression russe, la guerre d’Ukraine semble peut-être, sur le terrain, dans une impasse provisoire, mais elle a déjà profondément modifié son environnement international : l’Union européenne s’interroge sur ses limites et son destin futur ; les pays du Centre Europe entendent y peser décisivement ; les institutions de défense peinent à s’adapter à ce qui pourrait ...

Nous sommes rentrés dans le monde de la guerre. Politique étrangère propose dans un premier dossier un faisceau d’analyses permettant de mieux comprendre les dynamiques militaires et politiques à l’œuvre dans une Europe qui se rêvait hier en paix perpétuelle. L’affrontement direct entre Kiev et Moscou oppose deux systèmes militaires et de défense aux logiques, aux forces, aux faiblesses dissymétriques, que nous découvrons aussi au fil du conflit. Et au-delà du conflit lui-même, pe...

Three scenarios for future approaches to peace and conflict diplomacy, explored through the lens of regional perspectives and security threatsDiplomacy in pursuit of peace and security faces severe challenges not seen in decades. The reemergence of strong states, discord in the UN Security Council, destabilizing transnational nonstate actors, closing space for civil society within states, and the weakening of the international liberal order all present new obstacles to diplomacy.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 rapidly and irrevocably transformed Central Asia's political landscape. This region of five sovereign states with a population of some fifty million people quickly became a major focus of interest and influence for competing poles of power. The eminent contributors to this volume offer a four-part analysis of the region's new importance in world affairs. Rajan Menon examines the place of Central Asia in a global perspective. Eugene Rumer consi...

Dossier : Michel Houellebecq, politique et littératureLaurent Wauquiez – Michel Houellebecq, notre dernier romantiqueGrand admirateur de Michel Houellebecq, Laurent Wauquiez explique en quoi ses romans apportent un éclairage lucide et féroce sur la société française. Son œuvre littéraire vaut toutes les analyses politiques, affirme-t-il : elle reflète l’image de notre époque pétrie d’absurdités et de contradictions.Dossier : La f...

In Russia, a group of leading Russian intellectuals and social scientists join with top researchers from around the world to examine the social, political, and economic transformation in Russia. This timely and important book of orginal essays makes clear that neither politics nor economics alone holds the key to Russia's future, presenting critical perspectives on challenges facing Russia, both in its domestic policies and in its international relations. It also explores how global order—...

The war in Georgia. Tensions with Ukraine and other nearby countries. Moscow's bid to consolidate its "zone of privileged interests" among the Commonwealth of Independent States. These volatile situations all raise questions about the nature of and prospects for Russia's relations with its neighbors.In this book, Carnegie scholar Dmitri Trenin argues that Moscow needs to drop the notion of creating an exclusive power center out of the post-Soviet space. Like other former European e...

Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia (1998) examines the various attempts to create new forms of integration by the new states of Eurasia. The contributors to this volume analyse in detail how the national elites in the independent states conceived their regional policies. It looks in particular at the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States, feared by many of the newly-independent nations as being the Soviet Union Mark II.

In Russia, a group of leading Russian intellectuals and social scientists join with top researchers from around the world to examine the social, political, and economic transformation in Russia. This timely and important book of orginal essays makes clear that neither politics nor economics alone holds the key to Russia's future, presenting critical perspectives on challenges facing Russia, both in its domestic policies and in its international relations. It also explores how global order—...