Russian strongman Vladimir Putin expressed his sympathy for the victims of the Boston bombings last week. But make no mistake: Putin sees the bombings as an opportunity to rebuild relations with the United States on his terms. His crocodile tears shouldn't delude us into chasing a second "reset" in relations with Russia. After all, the first reset was one of the Obama…

When the Russian Foreign Ministry released its updated Foreign Policy Concept in February, codifying Russia’s global strategies, Washington yawned. Yet this document reveals much about the emerging “Putin Doctrine.” It further separates Russia from Western Europe and is especially critical of the United States. It also leaves no doubt: President Barack Obama’s “reset”…

On January 2, the U.S. Senate unanimously condemned the "Dima Yakovlev Law," a measure hastily adopted around Christmas time, that victimizes Russian orphans—and Russian democracy. This piece of legislation bars the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens. It is namedafter Dima Yakovlev, an adopted child from Russia, who in 2008 was abandoned by his father in a…

If last week’s corruption scandal involving the former Russian defense minister was not embarrassing enough for Moscow, the plot now thickens. A police investigation is targeting one of the Russian high-tech modernization projects, a type of GPS called GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System). The threads may lead to higher-ups, and turn into another episode in…

Vladimir Putin’s vision of Russia as an “energy superpower” just got closer to reality. State-controlled, London-floated Rosneft has clinched a deal to buy out BP’s stake in Russian oil operations. Since 2003, BP has been in a joint venture with several Russian oligarchs whose companies are known as Alfa-Access-Renova. From the beginning, there was bad blood between…

As the Russian punk-rock band members “Pussy Riot” appeal their two-year sentence for a political protest in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, a pale of repression is settling over their country. This crackdown is wrapped in legislative garb, but the iron grip of authoritarianism is unmistakable. The United States must specifically recognize that its “reset” policy of…

Russia hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this past weekend in its Pacific port of Vladivostok. It was a clear signal that Moscow’s interest in Asia is rising as the traditional market for its energy and raw materials—the euro zone—wallows in crisis and stagnation. And After America’s much-ballyhooed “pivot to Asia,” it is now Russia’s turn. …

Four years ago this month, as many around the world were watching the summer Olympics in Beijing, Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia. At one point Russian tanks were on the outskirts of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. Russian planes dropped bombs on Tbilisi International Airport -- a civilian airport. Hostilities were quickly brought to an end by a French diplomatic…

Under the cover of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, the Russian cargo ship MV Alaed, allegedly carrying attack helicopters for the Bashar al-Assad regime, is once again en route to Syria. In addition to the attack helicopters, it is thought that the ship is also carrying air defense weapons. Nobody seems to notice. Only nine weeks ago, in June, when the ship…

The Interfax news agency reported Tuesday that a Russian naval squadron, including an antisubmarine ship and three marine-landing craft, left Severomorsk in the Arctic for the Mediterranean. Several more ships will join it en route. Together, they will pay a call to Tartus, Syria, Russia's only naval facility outside of the old Soviet Union. Russian officials have…