DOCSLIB.ORG

Annual Report 2002

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Annual Report 2002 Annual Report 2002 Annual Report 2002 Staff List As of 31 December 2002 (Staff who left in 2002 are listed in grey italics) Director Ola Tunander External Consultants Editorial Staff Stein Tønnesson Pavel Baev Anke Hoeffler Glenn Martin Pinar Tank Graham Dyson John Carville Research Staff Scott Gates Jamie Lockhart Ananda Millard Signe Gilen Jozef Goldblat Library Anita Schjølset Sven Gunnar Simonsen Steinar Bryn Odvar Leine Åshild Kolås Vemund Aarbakke Vanja Pestoric Olga Baeva Dan Smith Wenche Hauge Elise Barth Yvonne Dehnes Visiting Scholars Administration Endre Begby Elisabeth Gilmore, University Damian Laws Gregory Reichberg Advisers of Toronto Ingvild Nanami Straume Håvard Strand Ane Bræin Kathryn Furlong, Carleton Kai Robert Braaten Helene Christiansen Ingierd Ivar Evensmo University Karen Hostens Henrik Syse Jorunn Tønnesen Lene Kristin Borg Henrik Urdal Lars Even Andersen Graduate Students Lorna Quilario Sandberg Hilde Henriksen Waage Martha Snodgrass Bård Thorheim Øyvind Foss Hilde Salvesen Mirjam Sørli Bernt Skåra Rebecca Smith Inger Skjelsbæk Snezana Popovic Cecilie Hellestveit Svein Normann J. Peter Burgess Christin Mørup Ormhaug Svein Tore Mathisen Jennifer Schirmer Project and Research Gudrun Østby Jon Elster Assistants Hanne Eggen Røislien Conscientious Objectors Jørgen Carling Jon Toven Iselin Frydenlund Anders Waaler Kemp Karen Hostens Jonas Aga Uchermann Mirjam Sørli Andrew John Feltham Kathryn Furlong Kristina Granberg Pål Høydal Bernt Skåra Kristian Berg Harpviken Lars Wilhelmsen Lars Wilhelmsen Lene Bomann-Larsen Martin Halvorsen Information Mari Olsen Naima Mouhleb Agnete Schjønsby Nicholas Marsh Päivi Lujala Ann-Christin Ottenby Nils Petter Gleditsch Rune Pisani Ingeborg K. Haavardsson Stine Thomassen Locally Employed Staff Belgrade Osijek Petrit Tahiri Dusanka Jankovic Ivana Milas Xheraldina Cernobregu PRIO’s Cyprus Office, Goran Lojancic Jasmina Krkic Nicosia Jelena Lengold Srdan Antic Sarajevo Ayla Gurel Tatjana Popovic Suzana Agotic Ljuljjeta Goranci-Brkic Dolly Olsson Vesna Matovic Nebojsa Savija-Valha Emine Erk Podgorica Tatjana Kosanin Trond Jensen Mitrovica Boris Raonic Zoran Telalbasic Yiouli Taki Abdullah Ferizi Daliborka Uljarevic Miodrag Radovic Dragutin Djekovic Skopje Nansen Dialogue Centres Miranda Ibishi Ivana Gajovic Albert Hani in the Balkans Vladimir Rajovic Ognjenka Scepanovic Alekandar Petkovski Edmond Zhaku Banja Luka Mostar Prishtina Ilija Ostojcic Armin Fazlic Elvir Djuliman Arjeta Emra Ivan Ostojcic Dragana Sarengaca Maria Vlaho Artan Venhari Sasko Stojkovski Drazen Tomljenovic Vernes Voloder Artor Sejfija Xhevahire Pruthi Tanja Milovanovic Vladimir Maric Bersant Disha 1 PRIO Annual ReportAnnual PRIO 2002 Contents Staff List Director’s Introduction 3 Strategy 5 Strategic Institute Programmes 7 • Conditions of War and Peace 8 • Foreign and Security Policies 10 • Ethics, Norms and Identities 12 • Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding 14 Balkan Dialogue Project 15 Assistance to Mine-Affected Communities (AMAC) 16 Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) 17 Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) 19 Information 20 • PRIO Events 2002 21 • PRIO Library 22 • Summer School 22 • Journals 23 Royal Visit at PRIO 24 Master’s Degree Students at PRIO 25 Financial Statement 26 PRIO Board & Administration 32 PRIO Statutes 33 Publications by PRIO Staff in 2002 Middle Editor: Agnete Schjønsby Language Editor: John Carville Staff Photos: Stian Håklev Design: Lene Nyheim, Lobo Media A/S Cover Photo: Are Hovednak – Beirut, 1985 PRIO Annual Report 2002 : : 2 Photo: Are Hovdenak PRIO Annual Report 2002 3 Director’s Introduction 3 PRIO Annual ReportAnnual PRIO 2002 In February 2002, a ceasefire was signed in Sri Lanka, leading political, cultural and environmental causes of the onset, to peace talks. This was one inspiring development in a year incidence, severity and resolution of violent conflict. Towards of anxiety. Most other civil wars lingered on or even resumed. the end of the year, it was decided to dissolve the pro- Terrorist attacks in Mombasa, Moscow and Bali spread fear, gramme, since most of its activities will be integrated into but the expected second attack on the US mainland did not PRIO’s new Centre for the Study of Civil War. take place. Still the White House stuck to its idea of a ‘wartime presidency’. What kind of ‘war’ is the USA waging? Centre for the Study of Civil War Are operations against Al-Qaeda, against the Taliban, against PRIO’s greatest achievement in 2002 was the establishment ‘terror’, and against Iraq and other ‘outlaw states’ all parts of of a Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) as one of the same global struggle? Is globalization of violence blurring Norway’s first ‘Centres of Excellence’. The centre will receive the distinction between internal and international wars? The substantial funding from the Research Council of Norway for answers will depend on what the future brings. a period of ten years and will be directed by Scott Gates, currently Associate Professor at Michigan State University and Much depends on the Middle East. In 2002, the relationship former leader of the CWP programme. The CSCW will between Israel and the Palestinians went from bad to worse. consist of seven working groups, each with its own thematic In early 2003, the Iraq crisis led to rifts and new alignments focus. These will be led by Pavel Baev (PRIO), Jon Elster within NATO and the EU, and high-stake diplomatic struggles (Columbia University), Nils Petter Gleditsch (PRIO), Kaare within the UN Security Council. If the world is moving Strøm (University of California, San Diego), Karl Ove Moene towards some kind of political globalization – either (University of Oslo), Ola Listhaug (Norwegian University of multilaterally with the UN Security Council as a central Science and Technology, Trondheim) and Scott Gates (PRIO). decisionmaking institution or unilaterally under US supremacy – the period 2002–03 may form a watershed. The CSCW will be a source of intellectual stimulus for the whole PRIO environment. The centre is based on a wide Dialogue network of international researchers, who will come to PRIO PRIO picked up on the good news of 2002, starting to build for working group sessions and shorter or longer stays. The competence on Sri Lanka within the Conflict Resolution and centre’s activities will link up and overlap with research within Peacebuilding (CRPB) programme. PRIO staff were also PRIO’s remaining three programmes. actively engaged in the current process that may lead to a settlement in Cyprus. That the Balkans did not make Royal Visit international headlines during 2002 is good news. However, On 22 August 2002, PRIO received Norway’s Crown Prince the situation in that region has not been one of confident Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The royal couple construction: a depressive mood has spread, with suspicions, came to learn about Norwegian research within international crime and failed elections, increasing the need for new vision. politics before travelling to London to engage in graduate In spring 2002, PRIO published Vemund Aarbakke’s Mutual study. Staff at PRIO, even its republicans, were proud to Learning: Facilitating Dialogue in Former Yugoslavia, which welcome them. describes PRIO’s cooperation with the Nansen Academy in Lillehammer, the Norwegian Red Cross and Norwegian Consolidation Church Aid in a process that has led to the establishment of With the start of my directorship in 2001, the institute nine inter-ethnic dialogue centres in the Balkans. These undertook to stabilize its budget at less than NOK 50 million, centres are heavily engaged in building a regional network to to hold staff numbers at the same level as in 2000 (between raise awareness of dialogue as a method of nonviolent 50 and 60) and to secure more long-term funding. So far, conflict resolution. these aims have been fulfilled. The total turnover in 2002 was NOK 45 million. The core grant from the Research Council of Security and Ethics Norway constituted approximately 14% of this, while support PRIO’s Foreign and Security Policy (FSP) programme from the Research Council for strategic institute programmes continued to emphasize policy-relevant research, focusing on represented 5%. In 2003, PRIO’s new Centre of Excellence Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Two new strategic will represent 13% of the budgeted turnover. PRIO’s programmes were launched – on Europe’s foreign and remaining income consists of project grants from a number of security policy and on Russia’s energy complex – and a new funders, most importantly the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign track in our cooperation with the Stockholm International Affairs. In 2002, the number of staff at PRIO was approxi- Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) was opened in terms of mately 60. research on terrorism and armed conflict. The Ethics, Norms and Identity (ENI) programme launched a project on gender Stein Tønnesson and intervention. In addition, with arguments derived from the just war tradition, the programme analysed corporate responsibility in areas of conflict. A special section of PRIO’s journal Security Dialogue was dedicated to the ethics of armed intervention. In 2002, PRIO’s Conditions of War and Peace (CWP) programme continued to bring together work on economic, www.prio.no – Strategy PRIO Annual Report 2002 4 Photo: Ananda S. Millard PRIO Annual Report 2002 5 4 5 Photo: Ananda S. Millard Ananda S. Photo: PRIO Annual ReportAnnual PRIO 2002 ReportAnnual PRIO 2002 Strategy Introduction Gender is an important,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Working Papers 41 (2003)
    A Hole in the Wall? Dimensionalism and the EU’s “New Neighbourhood Policy” Hiski Haukkala Researcher The Finnish Institute of International Affairs [email protected] http://www.hiskihaukkala.net Working Papers 41 (2003) Ulkopoliittinen instituutti (UPI) – The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (Ulkopoliittinen instituutti, FIIA) was established in 1961 on the initiative of the Paasikivi Society and it is an independent think tank maintained by the Foundation for Foreign Policy Research. FIIA’s mission is to produce high-standard, analytical information on international relations required in foreign policy decision-making and to assist in the formation of informed and critical public opinion. It accomplishes this mission by organizing research projects on timely topics, maintaining national and international research networks, and arranging lectures, seminars and conferences. Key research findings are published in the form of books and reports. FIIA also publishes Ulkopolitiikka, a quarterly review in Finnish, and The Yearbook of Finnish Foreign Policy, an annual publication in English. FIIA maintains a library which is at the disposal of anyone interested in international relations and foreign policy. The Finnish Institute of International Affairs Mannerheimintie 15 A FIN-00260 Helsinki tel. +358 9 4342 070 fax +358 9 4342 0769 http://www.upi-fiia.fi ISBN 951-769-145-9 ISSN 1456-1360 Ulkopoliittinen instituutti Helsinki 2003 Contents Introduction 1 The EU Enlargement as a Process of Inclusion and Exclusion 4 A Hole in the Wall? Dimensionalism and the EU’s Quest for Stability 11 Conclusions 19 Introduction1 The successive rounds of enlargements are a factor shaping the European Union.
    [Show full text]
  • The Transatlantic Partnership and Relations with Russia
    The Transatlantic Partnership and Relations with Russia Edited by Frances G. Burwell & Svante E. Cornell The Transatlantic Partnership and Relations with Russia Frances G. Burwell Svante E. Cornell Editors © 2012 Institute for Security and Development Policy and the Atlantic Council of the United States “The Transatlantic Partnership and Relations with Russia” is a monograph published by the Institute for Security and Development Policy in cooperation with the Atlantic Council of the United States. The Institute for Security and Development Policy is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and cooperates closely with research centers worldwide. Through its Silk Road Studies Program, the Institute also runs a joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. The Institute is firmly established as a leading research and policy center, serving a large and diverse community of analysts, scholars, policy-watchers, business leaders, and journalists. It is at the forefront of research on issues of conflict, security, and development. Through its applied research, publications, research cooperation, public lectures, and seminars, it functions as a focal point for academic, policy, and public discussion. Since its founding in 1961-1962, the Atlantic Council of the United States has been a preeminent, non partisan institution devoted to promoting transatlantic cooperation and international security. Now in its 50th year, the Atlantic Council is harnessing that history of transatlantic leadership and applying its founders’ vision to a broad spectrum of modern global challenges from violent extremism to financial instability and from NATO’s future to energy security. The Council is home to ten programs and centers, broken down both functionally and regionally, which seamlessly work together to tackle today’s unique set of challenges.
    [Show full text]
  • On Thin Ice? (Mis)Interpreting Russian Policy in the High North Roderick Kefferpütz
    No. 205/February 2010 On Thin Ice? (Mis)interpreting Russian Policy in the High North Roderick Kefferpütz limate change in the Arctic is expected to make the ice cap dwindling to a record-low minimum extent the region a lot busier as new strategic of 4.3 million square km in September 2007.2 resources become available. The Russian C These developments open up an array of intractable Federation is a key player in this context, having put challenges, including threats to biodiversity and the forth a comprehensive Arctic strategy. Russian policy traditional way of life of autochthon communities in towards the so-called High North, however, is the Arctic region. Of particular danger to global oftentimes not seen in its entirety and has received a environmental stability, however, is the threat to low- plethora of criticism in the Western media and foreign lying coastal regions posed by rising sea levels. This policy community. This paper aims to contribute to a would not only have immense political, environmental better understanding of Russian actions in the High and social consequences; the economic effects would North by providing a succinct overview of Russian also be tremendous. According to Allianz financial policies in the region and identifying the fundamental services, a rise of half a metre by the middle of this rationale behind them. The paper concludes that century could put at risk more than 28 trillion dollars’ Russia’s Arctic policy is not only a lot more nuanced worth of assets in the world’s largest coastal cities.3 In but also not very different from the policies conducted addition, increasing temperatures in this volatile region by other riparian states.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2006 101 Staff List 2006 (Staff Who Left in 2006 Are Listed in Grey Italics)
    Annual ReportAnnual 2006 PRIO Annual Report 2006 101 Staff List 2006 (Staff who left in 2006 are listed in grey italics) Director Sabrina Ramet Doreen Kuse Information Stein Tønnesson Gregory Reichberg Bethany Lacina Knut Sindre Åbjørsbråten Jan Ketil Rød Eric Neumayer Agnete Schjønsby Research Staff Øystein H. Rolandsen Magnus Öberg Martin Austvoll Kaushik Roy Marcelo Ochoa Editorial Staff Pavel Baev Sven Gunnar Simonsen Taylor Owen John Carville Morten Bergsmo Inger Skjelsbæk Roger Petersen Glenn Martin Helga Malmin Binningsbø Endre Stiansen James Pugel Marit Moe Kaja Borchgrevink Håvard Strand Rebecca Roberts Naima Mouhleb Marit Brochmann Trude Strand Bruce Russett Halvard Buhaug Kaare Strøm Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel Library J. Peter Burgess Henrik Syse Astrid Suhrke Olga Baeva Jørgen Carling Pinar Tank Jennifer Ziemke Odvar Leine Jeffrey Checkel Anne Thurin Indra de Soysa Torunn Tryggestad Administration Kendra Dupuy Ola Tunander Visiting Scholars Lars Even Andersen Jon Elster Henrik Urdal Vera Achvarina Lene Kristin Borg Scott Gates (CSCW Director) Hilde Henriksen Waage Trond Bakkevig Kai Robert Braaten Camilla Gjerde Hanne Fjelde Eystein Emberland Kristian Skrede Gleditsch Advisers Stein Erik Horjen Andrew Feltham Nils Petter Gleditsch Joachim Carlsen Pablo Kalmanovitz Damian Laws Kristian Berg Harpviken Ingeborg Haavardsson Kristoffer Lidén Svein Normann Wenche Hauge Gina Lende Nihara Ranjan Nayak Lorna Quilario Sandberg Håvard Hegre Maria Victoria Perotti Martha Snodgrass Helga Hernes Research Assistants Paul Roe Matilde Perez Herranz
    [Show full text]
  • Russia in East Central Europe: Means of Pressure and Channels Of
    Pavel Baev F Russia in East Central Europe: Means of Pressure and Channels of Influence* June 2016 *With the support of DGRIS (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy), French Ministry of Defence, under “Observatoire Russie, Europe orientale et Caucase” Table of Contents oui pour alignement justifié INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 4 NEW GEOPOLITICS OF THE “FRONTLINE ZONE” WITH RUSSIA ................................................................. 6 RUSSIAN ENERGY POLICY IN ECE: A BROKEN TOOL? .... 9 Gazprom’s pipelines, prices and promises ............... 9 Nuclear energy track ............................................... 11 RUSSIAN EXPORT OF CORRUPTION AS A POLICY INSTRUMENT ........................................................ 14 From buying friends to cultivating malcontents ...... 14 The art of propaganda war ...................................... 17 RUSSIAN “HARD SECURITY” DESIGNS FOR EAST CENTRAL EUROPE .................................................. 20 Experimenting with military pressure in the Baltic theater .................................................................... 20 Post-Crimea reconfiguration of the Black Sea theater .................................................................... 23 The nuclear threat and the missile defense irritant . 25 CONCLUSION: THE SHIFTING INTERPLAY OF DIRTY POLITICS AND MILITARY RISKS .............................. 28 Author Dr Pavel K. Baev is a Research Director and Professor at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo
    [Show full text]
  • The Search for Common Ground
    EURASIAN SECURITY The Search for Common Ground Policy Perspectives May 2011 IERES • THE INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN, RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES PONARS Eurasia is a global network of social scientists that seeks to promote scholarly work and policy engagement on transnational and comparative topics within the Eurasian space. PONARS Eurasia is based at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. This publication was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. Edited by Alexander Schmemann and Cory Welt PONARS Eurasia The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) Elliott School of International Affairs The George Washington University 1957 E Street, NW, Suite 412 Washington, DC 20052 Tel: (202) 994-6340 www.ponarseurasia.org © PONARS Eurasia 2011. All rights reserved. Cover images: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech during the Caspian Sea leaders summit in Tehran, Iran (2007). (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gestures during his speech at Moscow State University (2011). He told the audience that Washington supports Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon listen to a facility officer while touring the Soviet-built Okno (Window) complex in Nurek, 30 miles southeast
    [Show full text]
  • Bios & Topics FRI PONARS Fri Sept 13 2019.Pdf
    PONARS Eurasia Annual Policy Conference BIOGRAPHIES & TOPICS Friday, September 13, 2019 Panel 1: Russia’s Soft/Sharp Power and the West (9:15 am) Chair: Marlene Laruelle, George Washington University Discussant: Ambassador Eric Rubin, American Foreign Service Association Kimberly Marten is Chair of the Political Science Department at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is a Faculty Member of Columbia’s Harriman Institute for Russian and East-Central European Studies and of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Foreign Policy Experts Panel. Her current research focuses on Russian foreign and security policy. Marten has analyzed Russia’s use of the Wagner Group private military company and its intelligence agencies and the politics of warlords. Her books include, Engaging the Enemy: Organization Theory and Soviet Military Innovation (Princeton, 1993), which received the Marshall Shulman Prize, Weapons, Culture, and Self-Interest: Soviet Defense Managers in the New Russia (Columbia, 1997), and Enforcing the Peace: Learning from the Imperial Past (Columbia, 2004). ► “Russ-Afrique? Russia, France, and the Central African Republic”—France has been among the European countries most friendly to Russia in recent years. Yet Moscow is targeting Paris for geopolitical competition in the Central African Republic, a violent, poverty-stricken country with ties to France where neither the USSR nor Russia ever played much of a role. What explains Russian actions? - - - - - - - - - - Şener Aktürk is Associate Professor at Koç University, Istanbul. He is a scholar of comparative politics with a focus on ethnicity, religion, and nationalism, especially in Germany, Russia, and Turkey.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Nuclear Modernization and Putin's Wonder-Missiles: Real
    Notes de l’Ifri Russie.Nei.Visions 115 Russian Nuclear Modernization and Putin’s Wonder-Missiles Real Issues and False Posturing Pavel BAEV August 2019 Russia/NIS Center The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non- governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. This text is published with the support of DGRIS (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry of the Armed Forces), under “Russia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe Observatory”. ISBN: 979-10-373-0011-9 © All rights reserved, Ifri, 2019 Cover: © Kremlin.ru How to quote this document: Pavel Baev, “Russian Nuclear Modernization and Putin’s Wonder-Missiles: Real Issues and False Posturing”, Russie.Nei.Visions, No. 115, Ifri, August 2019. Ifri 27 rue de la Procession 75740 Paris Cedex 15—FRANCE Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 00—Fax: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 60 Email: [email protected] Website: Ifri.org Russie.Nei.Visions Russie.Nei.Visions is an online collection dedicated to Russia and the other new independent states (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan).
    [Show full text]
  • LITHUANIA PREPARES for HYBRID WAR by John R
    MARCH 2015 LITHUANIA PREPARES FOR HYBRID WAR By John R. Haines John R. Haines is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and directs the Princeton Committee of FPRI. Much of his current research is focused on Russia and its near abroad, with a special interest in nationalist and separatist movements. The translation of all source material is by the author unless noted otherwise. The more powerful enemy can be vanquished...by the most thorough, careful, attentive, skillful, and obligatory use of any—even the smallest—rift between the enemies [...] and also by taking advantage of any, even the smallest, opportunity of winning a mass ally, even though this ally is temporary, vacillating, unstable, unreliable and conditional. Those who do not understand this reveal a failure to understand even the smallest grain of Marxism, of modern scientific socialism in general.1 -Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin, No Compromises? Mickiewicz or Mickevičius? For years, Lithuanian citizens of Polish origin have been asking for the right to keep their names in Polish spelling. Is it just a question of name? The situation of the national minorities in Lithuania has been discussed by world and regional organisations for already over ten years. And still it creates tensions between Vilnius and Warsaw.2 -Nouvelle Europe, The Polish national minority in Lithuania : three reports later. A few weeks ago, Pravda published a vitriolic denunciation of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė: [Her] recent outburst of emotional anti-Russian rhetoric seems very odd given her biography. [...] The Soviet education system gave her the opportunity to graduate from the prestigious St.
    [Show full text]
  • Rising Tensions Between the West and Russia: What Role for Arms
    DECEMBER 2018 Rising Tensions Between Policy Brief the West and Russia: What Role For Arms Control? 1. Introduction 2. Geopolitical Posturing – From the Arctic to Peter van Ham Over the past few years, relations between the West and Russia have hit rock bottom the Middle East and have spiralled from a political dispute into military tensions. Clearly, this is both There are no indications that Russia intends undesirable and dangerous. If disputes to start military hostilities towards any were limited to the political realm, the EU member state, let alone the US. But risk of escalation would remain modest. this is where the “good news” ends. Last However, Moscow’s operations go beyond September, Russia conducted a large “set assertive cyber strategies and ham-fisted of manoeuvres”, allegedly involving 300,000 spying efforts. Today, Russia is engaged troops (although the estimate by reliable in (what Mark Galeotti has called) “heavy Western sources is lower, around 75,000 metal diplomacy”: using military means troops), including contingents from China to impress and intimidate the West.1 This and Mongolia.2 Russia’s Vostok (“East”) Policy Brief offers insight into the most exercise underscored Moscow’s growing pressing concerns, focusing on areas and military ambitions and its willingness to issues where matters could escalate fastest. work with China to shape a post-Western It asks what role can still be foreseen for world. One region where Russia’s military arms control and concludes with a call assertiveness is on the rise is the Arctic. for transatlantic unity and a stronger role Russia has reopened several Soviet-era for NATO to counter Russia’s military and bases in the Arctic, building new nuclear ice- geopolitical gambit.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia: Foreign Policy and U.S
    Russia: Foreign Policy and U.S. Relations Updated April 15, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46761 SUMMARY R46761 Russia: Foreign Policy and U.S. Relations April 15, 2021 Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rise to leadership more than 20 years ago, tensions have increased steadily between Russia and the United States. Some observers attribute Russian Andrew S. Bowen foreign policy actions to the personality and individual interests of Putin and certain hawkish Analyst in Russian and advisers. Some contend Russian authorities are focused mainly on reclaiming Russia’s status as a European Affairs great power. Others argue Russian foreign policy is centered on protecting the country’s status as the dominant power in the post-Soviet region and defending against foreign interference in Russia’s domestic affairs. Whatever the motivations, most observers agree Russia’s natural Cory Welt resources and military modernization program, launched in 2008, provide Russia’s leadership the Specialist in Russian and European Affairs means to conduct a flexible and often aggressive foreign policy, as well as to project force in neighboring countries and further afield (such as in the Middle East). Russia’s foreign policy priorities traditionally have focused on the post-Soviet region and the West, including relations and tensions with NATO, the United States, and Europe. However, Russia under Putin (like the Soviet Union before it) also pursues a global foreign policy. As relations with its neighbors and Western countries have become more adversarial, Russia—seeking to balance against U.S. and European power and interests—has cultivated deeper relations with China and other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia and Turkey: Strategic Partners and Rivals
    RUSSIE.NEI.REPORTS No.35 MAY 2021 Russia and Turkey Strategic Partners and Rivals Russia/NIS Center Pavel BAEV The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. This text is published with the support of DGRIS (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy) under “Russia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe Observatory”. ISBN: 979-10-373-0351 © All rights reserved, Ifri, 2021 Cover: © Kremlin.ru How to quote this document: Pavel Baev, “Russia and Turkey. Strategic Partners and Rivals”, Russie.Nei.Reports, No. 35, Ifri, May 2021. Ifri 27 rue de la Procession 75740 Paris Cedex 15—FRANCE Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 00—Fax: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 60 Email: [email protected] Website: Ifri.org Russie.Nei.Reports Russie.Nei.Reports is an online collection dedicated to Russia and the other new independent states (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). Written by leading experts, these policy- oriented papers deal with strategic, political and economic issues. Author Dr Pavel K. Baev is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO).
    [Show full text]