It was reported today that the US consulate in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia is back in the business of interviewing for visas to the United States. That is the good news for the Russians. And the new Russian ambassador, heavyweight Anatoly Antonov, has now been appointed ambassador to the United States (though he is … Continue reading More Tit for Tat

“Moscow is being drawn into new conflicts in the Near East” reads the title of an intriguing article by Vladimir Mukhin in tomorrow’s Nezavisimaya gazeta. Just as the Americans are beginning to ramp up their military intervention in Afghanistan and to do so in closer coordination with Powers in the region, the Russians are grimly … Continue reading No End of Worry: The Syrian Endgame

  In Russia dangerous games are played for high stakes. There exists sufficient freedom of action to allow for an extraordinary accumulation of wealth or raw political power. But the beneficiary never quite knows when someone above will decide enough is enough. The billionaire Andrei Borodin, now in what is I think still the most … Continue reading The Dangers of Becoming Over Mighty

  In the crisis over North Korea the Chinese have a heavy responsibility; and they seem to be divided between the foreign policy specialists and the military over whether to rein in Pyongyang or not. The Russians, on the other hand, appear completely powerless. Their exploits fighting the USAF in the air above Korea (1950-1952) … Continue reading Russia and the “Idiots” in North Korea

  The Russians are now beginning to count the cost of tit-for-tat played since Trump agreed to Congressional sanctions against Moscow. An article in Kommersant - "Pod pritselom pariteta" - which incidentally finally acknowledges that Putin had calculated on a Trump victory "abruptly" altering the course of relations today weighs the likely consequences of Kremlin … Continue reading The Turning Cycle of Retaliation: Cutting Russia’s Consulates in the United States

At the turn of the Millenium when Vladimir Putin displaced Boris Yeltsin as President, the world was a very different place economically. A new cycle in commodities had begun to revolve which, it appears, very few other than Putin and George Soros' old partner, raw materials analyst Jim Rogers, fully anticipated. Oil in 1998 cost … Continue reading The Balance of Power in Energy or Energy and the Balance of Power

Only today it was reported that, having called for the impeachment of President Trump in an interview live on ABC television, Democrat Maxine Waters, arguably one of the least intelligent members of the House of Representatives, then followed up with a call to impeach President Putin! Poor Maxine, who has retirement accounts invested in the … Continue reading The Damage Done by Manichean Images in Russo-American Relations

Russia has never been better informed about the complexities of American domestic politics and this cannot be attributed to excellence in intercepting and decrypting high level codes and ciphers. The Kremlin is now cashing in on decades of investment in Amerikanistika since the creation of the USA and Canada Institute under KGB man Georgii Arbatov in … Continue reading No Meaningful Retaliation