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Today's paper. Last Updated: 05/28/2012
Articles by Alexander Lukin

China Sees Diminishing Returns With Russia

Although China’s trade volume has also dropped with most other countries as a result of the crisis, it is falling at the greatest rate with Russia.

Kim Jong Il's Dangerous Ploy

Pyongyang's underground nuclear test on May 25 and its April 5 test-firing of a long-range missile that flew over Japan was condemned almost unanimously across the globe. It is easy to understand why.

Russia Takes Broad Look at Afghanistan

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference on Afghanistan, which starts on Friday in Moscow, marks an important stage in the SCO's development -- particularly, in its role as a mediator for solving regional problems.

Kyrgystan's Sharp Turn Toward Moscow

Kyrgyzstan's announcement that it plans to close the U.S. air base in Manas changes the security playing field in Central Asia.

The SCO's Rising Power

One of most discussed aspects of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Dushanbe over the weekend was the third point of the summit declaration devoted to the situation in South Ossetia.

No Interest in Kim Jong-Il

Pyongyang is ruled by an exotic regime that will fall sooner or later. Russian policy should move away from its Cold War complex.

The Chinese Question

The Asian element has always had an important place in Russia, which lost a significant amount of its European territory in the 20th century and moved toward the East.

Power to the People -- Not the Siloviki

If I had to choose one word to describe my reaction to President Vladimir Putin's speech on Monday at an expanded government session, it would be astonishment -- astonishment at the complete incongruity between the stated necessity to fight terrorism and the measures proposed, most of which bear no relation to fighting terrorism.

Pipes Can't See the Trees for the Forest

In his recent op-ed in The Moscow Times (""Flight From Freedom,"" which appeared on July 6), the well-known Harvard Sovietologist Richard Pipes takes a characteristically ideological approach to current events in Russia, forcing the facts to conform to his preconceived conclusions.

A Short History of Russian Elections' Short Life

Elections are nothing new in Russia. The posadniki, or governors, of medieval Novgorod were elected, as were the heads of the guba (a territorial division that existed in the 16th and 17th centuries) and the heads of rural self-government bodies from the 16th century onward.

Authoritarianism and Its Discontents

The drubbing taken by the Communist Party, the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko in December's State Duma elections obviously resulted from the Kremlin's decision to bring all the power of the state to bear in its battle with disobedient political parties. But there was a second, less obvious but fundamental cause: a sea change in the mood of the Russian electorate.

Authoritarianism Deposing 'Clan Democracy'

What's happening in Russia today could be described as the consolidation of an authoritarian regime, or in more popular jargon, the rise of a dictatorship.

Dirty Thoughts About the Future of Russia

I've just come back from a two-week trip to Vladivostok, where I delivered several lectures at the local university. I have traveled extensively in my time, but this last trip left me with the most vivid impression of all. I'm not referring to the quality of higher education in the Far East, which as a matter of fact is quite high. In Vladivostok I learned a great deal about much more prosaic, and vital, matters.

TV Is Just Part of the Story

The bureaucratic dictatorship which is currently being established is not only dull but also dangerous.

Chinese to Liberate Russia's Business Consciousness

Russian-Chinese relations are currently at their best for the last 40 years.


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