Russia's Presidential Transition

The outcome of President Bush's meeting with Vladimir Putin last week in Sochi, Russia was perceived in opposite ways within the two countries. In the United States, Bush was seen as unsuccessful, while in Russia, it was Putin. Rose Gottemoeller, director of Carnegie Moscow Center, observes in the International Herald Tribune that these conflicting perceptions are a natural part of the U.S.-Russia relationship, but don't necessarily undermine positive trends between the two countries.

Additional Resources: U.S.-Russia Relations

Dmitri Trenin appeared on the English-language Russia Today to discuss the state of affairs after the recent April NATO summit in Bucharest. He argued that many countries who most recently joined NATO did so to achieve a security guarantee against a resurgent Russia, whereas Ukraine is far more divided internally with regard to Ukrainians' view of Russia.

Dubinsky: Georgian Spring

In the wake of Russia's decision to suspended its obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, director of Carnegie Moscow Center, Rose Gotemoeller writes in The Moscow Times that Washington should not focus on "grand schemes of cooperation, partnership initiatives, summitry and news conferences... [but] on tightly defining a few policy goals that are clearly in our mutual interests."

Gotemoeller: Sergei Ivanov’s Strategic Breakthrough

Vladimir Putin’s decision to accept the chairmanship of United Russia, Russia’s dominant political party, is further evidence that he plans on retaining considerable political power even as Dmitry Medvedev replaces him as president. But as Nikolai Petrov explains in The Moscow Times, it is Putin’s control of the regional political apparatuses that could touch off a “struggle between the presidential administration and that of the prime minister for influence.”

Trenin: Russia's Tandem Leadership
Lipman: Medvedev's Chance To Lead?
Petrov: Of Mayors and Interlopers
Gottemoeller: Russia's Presidential Election
Kagan: The End of the End of History

Carnegie President Jessica T. Mathews discussed U.S.-Russia relations during Putin's two terms in a February 21 "Spotlight" program of the Russia Today TV news channel along with Viktor Linnik, political analyst and editor-in-chief of Slovo weekly newspaper.

Nikolai Petrov discussed Russia's March 2 presidential elections with moderator James F. Collins, providing analysis of the Putin regime's political structure, the likely policy trajectory of a Medvedev administration, and the problems that Russia's new president will have to tackle. He concluded that Russian politics will change substantially even in the next six months as key Kremlin factions etch out their role in the next administration.