Foreign Affairs has discussed the Eurasian Economic Union in its publication “The Eurasian Illusion”, calling it “a myth” and “a failure”. The author interprets the Eurasian Economic Union as an attempt to bring the former Soviet nations back together – both economically and politically – under the promise of “universally beneficial integration on equal terms”. This equilibrium, however, was unrealizable from the very beginning, primarily because Russia benefits from gross economic disparities among the EEU members, and secondly, because the absence of institutional infrastructure could be of help in realizing already-existing and possible economic potential. According to the author, it was the crisis in Ukraine that broke the fragile unity between members of the EEU, which at the moment includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and miss other countries – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Still, in spite of recently appearing signals from Minsk and Astana about the possibility of being more sympathetic towards the West, the author does not see Eurasian integration disappearing in the near future, since the EEU remains a part of the political agenda of Lukashenko, Nazarbayev and Putin. “The EEU resembles democracy in Russia: It was widely expected to emerge and sometimes might even show signs of life, but it remains, in reality, an illusion,” concludes Foreign Affairs.Business Insider reports on the changes of gas pipeline strategy recently applied by Russia in an article titled “Russia Just Made A Bold Move To Keep Its Gas Leverage On Europe”. The article states that Russia's recent announcement of its intention to shift natural gas pipelines to Europe via Turkey, and not via Ukraine, makes sense if one considers Russia's loss of control over the European gas market, as a result of recent warming in winter time. The author brings a number of arguments to claim that the epoch when Russia has been dominating the gas market is long gone, which creates an inevitable urge to seek new solutions and partnerships. This, according to the author, explains Russia's increase of interest in countries outside of Europe — for instance, China and India. To confirm the statement, the article is concluded by Vladimir Putin's own words “Rosneft and Gazprom […] are preparing projects for the development of Russian-Arctic [and] the expansion of liquefied gas""Politico Magazine" published “a story of lobbying and its limits” in the material “Putin's Washington”, on development of PR-programs in Russia, having the story of functioning of the PR agency Ketchum as an example. The material is based on the interview with the Representative Dana Rohrabacher. The main argument of the article is that Ketchum failed to succeed within Russian realities of business ethics, in spite of having powerful lobbying in their support. In a recent statement to “Politico Magazine”, Ketchum said: “Given the current geopolitical environment, this is a challenging time to promote economic development for Russia and as a result we do not have any activity planned in the U.S.”“Putin’s Scare Tactics” is the title of an essay that appeared in Project Syndicate. Its aim is to discuss the peculiarities of the political behavior of Russia's oligarchs and businessmen in comparison with the ordinary people towards Vladimir Putin in the situation of “stifling of non-governmental organizations, repression of independent media, and silencing of opposition voices”. It is claimed in the article that it is obedience (that should be understood in historical terms and by historical reasons), together with a concern for private benefit, that characterizes the culture of political behavior in Russia. This is why both the absence of independent media and the recent pursuit of the opposition have caused continual open confrontation with the authorities after the demonstration on Manezh Square. However, according to Project Syndicate, every population stratum in Russia feels the consequences of the county’s foreign current policy, the only difference is in the kind of leverage: if for oligarchs it is the business they might lose in case of “misbehavior”, ordinary people are risking their “pensions, salaries, and social services”, as seen by the reporter.The Times reacted to the situation around Vladimir Putin's possible non-presence for the commemorative events on January 27 to honor the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland in an article “Putin has weaponised history to fight the west”. This episode, together with Putin's possible visit to the ceremony at the site of the concentration camp Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic (on the same day as the ceremony in Auschwitz is planned) and the invitation sent to Kim Jong Un to join the Moscow celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in May this year, is interpreted in an article as a chance to express Russia's disagreement with the West.
Foreign Affairs has discussed the Eurasian Economic Union in its publication “The Eurasian Illusion”, calling it “a myth” and “a failure”. The author interprets the Eurasian Economic Union as an attempt to bring the former Soviet nations back together – both economically and politically – under the promise of “universally beneficial integration on equal terms”. This equilibrium, however, was unrealizable from the very beginning, primarily because Russia benefits from gross economic disparities among the EEU members, and secondly, because the absence of institutional infrastructure could be of help in realizing already-existing and possible economic potential. According to the author, it was the crisis in Ukraine that broke the fragile unity between members of the EEU, which at the moment includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and miss other countries – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Still, in spite of recently appearing signals from Minsk and Astana about the possibility of being more sympathetic towards the West, the author does not see Eurasian integration disappearing in the near future, since the EEU remains a part of the political agenda of Lukashenko, Nazarbayev and Putin. “The EEU resembles democracy in Russia: It was widely expected to emerge and sometimes might even show signs of life, but it remains, in reality, an illusion,” concludes Foreign Affairs.
Business Insider reports on the changes of gas pipeline strategy recently applied by Russia in an article titled “Russia Just Made A Bold Move To Keep Its Gas Leverage On Europe”. The article states that Russia's recent announcement of its intention to shift natural gas pipelines to Europe via Turkey, and not via Ukraine, makes sense if one considers Russia's loss of control over the European gas market, as a result of recent warming in winter time. The author brings a number of arguments to claim that the epoch when Russia has been dominating the gas market is long gone, which creates an inevitable urge to seek new solutions and partnerships. This, according to the author, explains Russia's increase of interest in countries outside of Europe — for instance, China and India. To confirm the statement, the article is concluded by Vladimir Putin's own words “Rosneft and Gazprom […] are preparing projects for the development of Russian-Arctic [and] the expansion of liquefied gas"
"Politico Magazine" published “a story of lobbying and its limits” in the material “Putin's Washington”, on development of PR-programs in Russia, having the story of functioning of the PR agency Ketchum as an example. The material is based on the interview with the Representative Dana Rohrabacher. The main argument of the article is that Ketchum failed to succeed within Russian realities of business ethics, in spite of having powerful lobbying in their support. In a recent statement to “Politico Magazine”, Ketchum said: “Given the current geopolitical environment, this is a challenging time to promote economic development for Russia and as a result we do not have any activity planned in the U.S.”
“Putin’s Scare Tactics” is the title of an essay that appeared in Project Syndicate. Its aim is to discuss the peculiarities of the political behavior of Russia's oligarchs and businessmen in comparison with the ordinary people towards Vladimir Putin in the situation of “stifling of non-governmental organizations, repression of independent media, and silencing of opposition voices”. It is claimed in the article that it is obedience (that should be understood in historical terms and by historical reasons), together with a concern for private benefit, that characterizes the culture of political behavior in Russia. This is why both the absence of independent media and the recent pursuit of the opposition have caused continual open confrontation with the authorities after the demonstration on Manezh Square. However, according to Project Syndicate, every population stratum in Russia feels the consequences of the county’s foreign current policy, the only difference is in the kind of leverage: if for oligarchs it is the business they might lose in case of “misbehavior”, ordinary people are risking their “pensions, salaries, and social services”, as seen by the reporter.
The Times reacted to the situation around Vladimir Putin's possible non-presence for the commemorative events on January 27 to honor the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland in an article “Putin has weaponised history to fight the west”. This episode, together with Putin's possible visit to the ceremony at the site of the concentration camp Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic (on the same day as the ceremony in Auschwitz is planned) and the invitation sent to Kim Jong Un to join the Moscow celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in May this year, is interpreted in an article as a chance to express Russia's disagreement with the West.
