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G8 PRESIDENCY TO BE MARKED BY TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY, PUTIN SAYS

The Moscow Times
January 11, 2014
In an address published on the Kremlin’s website as Russia assumed the presidency on New Year’s Day, Putin preached cooperation, dialogue and shared responsibility in achieving the group’s goals and advocated “a spirit of partnership based on trust” among its members- the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Canada, European Union and Russia.

SOCHI: SECURITY AND COUNTERTERRORISM AT THE 2014 WINTER OLYMPICS

The Heritage Foundation
January 6, 2014
by Cassandra Luccacioni and Ariel Cohen
Two bomb attacks, carried out by suicide bombers at a railway station and a bus in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), 500 miles southeast of Moscow, shattered the pre-holiday spirit as Russians prepared to celebrate the New Year. Up to 45 people, including children, were killed, and over 100 were injured, many of them severely; the death count is sure to climb.

Q&A on the Crisis in Ukraine

The Heritage Foundation
December 2, 2013
By Dr. Ariel Cohen
The brutal dispersal of demonstrators in Ukraine last week led to dozens wounded—and a public protest movement which now surpasses the Orange Revolution of 2004. Demonstrators want Ukraine in Europe—and President Victor Yanukovich out of power. Ariel Cohen, Heritage’s Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies, gives some perspective on where this is coming from.

The Eurasian Union: Undermining Economic Freedom and Prosperity in the South Caucasus

The Heritage Foundation
November 27, 2013
By James M. Roberts, Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. and Jonathan Blaisdel
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking economic and political alliances to counterbalance the influence of the U.S., the European Union, China, and transnational Islamism. Putin is determined to strengthen Moscow’s hegemony in the “near abroad”—the post-Soviet space. One of the instruments he has created to achieve that strategic objective is the Russia-dominated Eurasian Union (EAU). In 2011 Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus signed an agreement creating the EAU with the goal of making it fully operational by 2015. Putin has been pressuring Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as other Eastern European and Eurasian states, to join.

Ariel Cohen: Islamic Terrorism in Russia

Published on May 9, 2013 Dr. Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, The Heritage Foundation [Click here for transcript: http://bit.ly/14zdyVE] Topic: Islamic Terrorism in Russia: Implications for U.S. National Security Recorded at Center for Security Policy’s National Security Group Lunch on Capitol Hill

Ariel Cohen on Azerbaijan

Published on Feb 25, 2013 ARIEL COHEN – Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is a well-known Washington-based foreign, economic and security policy expert. His particular expertise lies in the areas of Russia’s economic and financial policy; U.S.-Russian relations; Caspian pipeline security; ethnic conflict; and relationships between Russia and the New Independent States (NIS). He also has expertise

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The Russian Military and the Georgia War: Lessons and Implications (Military Bookshop, September 1, 2011)

In this monograph, the authors state that Russia planned the war against Georgia in August 2008 aiming for the annexation of Abkhazia, weakening the Saakashvili regime, and prevention of NATO enlargement. According to them, while Russia won the campaign, it also exposed its own military as badly needing reform. The war also demonstrated weaknesses of

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