Free Republic

Even if one rejects Golitsyn's overall thesis -- viz., that Gorbachev's changes comprised a long-term strategic deception -- one must still acknowledge that Golitsyn was the only analyst whose crystal ball was functioning during the key period of the late 20th century. When the Soviet Empire collapsed in 1989, the CIA was chastised for failing to foresee the change. "For a generation, the Central Intelligence Agency told successive presidents everything they needed to know about the Soviet Union," said Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "except that it was about to fall apart." Sovietologists both inside and outside CIA were indeed baffled,...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An unknown number of people were killed in an explosion at a Moscow market, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, quoting an eyewitness.

PRAGUE, August 8, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The United States has imposed sanctions on two major Russian arms dealers -- state arms exporter Rosoboroneksport and the aviation firm Sukhoi -- for allegedly selling high-tech equipment to Iran. The August 4 move has been widely condemned in Russia as an "unfriendly act" aimed at crippling Russia's arms industry. It comes against the backdrop of strained bilateral relations in recent weeks. Moscow and Washington have failed to reach agreement on Russia's World Trade Organization bid and continue to disagree on resolving the Middle East conflict and on dealing with Iran's nuclear program. And...

MOSCOW, July 20 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that the Israeli offensive on Lebanon had gone "far beyond" the anti-terrorist operation Israel says it is conducting against the Hizbollah militia. "The unprecedented scale of victims and destruction bear witness to the fact that the actions that were announced to (free captured Israeli servicemen) have gone far beyond the bounds of an anti-terrorist operation," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Israeli warplanes and artillery have been pounding Lebanon for more than a week. Israel says it is retaliating for the capture of two of its soldiers in a...

the People’s Republic of China won’t help the U.S. rein in the rogue regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il -- which this week conducted a failed test of a missile designed to reach American cities -- then the U.S. should stop helping China with its own economic and technological development. China must support the U.S. position on North Korea in the U.N. Security Council or pay a price for not doing so. In response to North Korea’s missile tests, Japan has sponsored a resolution in the Security Council that would bar nations from giving North Korea money, material...

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez's plans to build the first Kalashnikov factory in South America are stirring fears Venezuela could start arming his leftist allies in the hemisphere with Russian assault rifles. Chavez denies such ambitions, saying his government bought 100,000 Russian-made AK-103 assault rifles and a license from Moscow to make Kalashnikovs and ammunition to bolster its defenses against "the most powerful empire in history" — the United States. Some political opponents and critics suspect Chavez, a former paratrooper, has other intentions, such as providing allies such as Bolivia with arms while forging an anti-Washington military alliance. "Our...

SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld branded Iran as the world's leading terrorist nation yet hoped Tehran seriously would consider incentives from the West in exchange for suspending suspect nuclear activities. Rumsfeld, attending an annual security conference, also took aim Saturday at Russia and China for allowing Iran's involvement in a group that he said has stated opposition to terrorism and extremists. Iraq was on Rumsfeld's mind, too, as he expressed concern the war could alienate Muslims in Southeast Asia. Upcoming stops on his trip include Indonesia and Vietnam. The U.S. and five other world powers decided last...

Venezuela has received its first delivery of tens of thousands of Russian assault rifles. It is the first batch out of a total of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow.

Russia is holding talks with Venezuela to license the manufacture of Kalashnikov rifles there, Russia's state arms exporter has confirmed. On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Russia planned to build two munitions plants in the country. Moscow has already signed a deal to supply Venezuela with 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The move is likely to worry the US, which regards Mr Chavez as a destabilising influence in the region. In May, the US State Department banned arms sales to Venezuela because of concern over its contacts with Iran and Cuba and what it called Venezuela's lack of support for...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Russia will help Venezuela build plants to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition after the United States restricted arms sales to the South American nation, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday. Chavez also told a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, that a delivery of 30,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles was due to arrive from Russia in early June. "The Russians are going to install a Kalashnikov rifle plant and a munitions factory. So we can defend every street, every hill, every corner," he said in remarks broadcast in Venezuela. Washington banned all weapons sales to Chavez's leftist government...

The decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council has thrown into sharp focus relations between Iran and Russia. Moscow may soon have to choose whether to back Iran or align itself with the US and the European Union (EU) in reining in Iran's nuclear intentions. Russia appears ready to co-operate with both the USA and Iran in order to boost its trade relations with the two countries. Although Russia is also a leading oil exporter and therefore unlikely to be intimidated by Iranian threats to reduce oil sales, the...

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that the U.S.-Russian arms race is not over and called for a strengthening of his nation's nuclear and conventional forces so Moscow can better resist foreign pressure.     The remarks, in his seventh state of the nation address since taking power in 2000, follow increasingly sharp criticism of Russia's democratic and foreign policy directions from the United States, including a harsh rebuke by Vice President Dick Cheney last week in Lithuania.     "It is premature to speak of the end of the arms race," said Mr. Putin, who pointed out in the nationally televised address...

President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at the hungry "wolf" of America today in a strident state-of-the-nation address in which he said that post-Soviet Russia should build up its economic and military might. In his seventh annual address as president, Mr Putin also promised to tackle Russia's falling birthrate, saying that falling population levels were Russia's "most pressing problem". But the main thrust of his speech was on the need to bolster security. Mr Putin said that Russia needed a strong military not only to guard against potential attackers but also to resist foreign political pressure. His comments betray increased...

Vladimir Putin has pledged to build up Russia's military to rival "fortress" America, and insisted the Cold War arms race is far from over. In an unexpectedly belligerent state of the nation address on Russian TV, the Russian president accused the US of putting its own interests before its democratic ideals, and compared the country to a voracious wolf. "We are aware what is going on in the world," he said. "Comrade wolf knows whom to eat, he eats without listening, and he's clearly not going to listen to anyone." He added: "It is premature to speak of the end...

Russia needs to be strong against 'fortress' US: Putin MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia faces a growing arms race against a "fortress" United States which cares more about its own interests than democracy or human rights, President Vladimir Putin said in his annual state of the nation speech. In a wide-ranging, nationally televised address to both houses of parliament on Wednesday, Putin spent most time on domestic issues, particularly the rapid decline of the country's population, which the Russian leader said is losing 700,000 people a year. But his most biting comments targeted the United States, which has become increasingly critical...

Fear of The West In Russia By Masha Lipman Tuesday, May 2, 2006; Page A21 MOSCOW -- Early in the perestroika years, Mikhail Gorbachev declared the preeminence of human values for Soviet Russia. It was a truly revolutionary pronouncement: During decades of Cold War the U.S.S.R. had staunchly rejected civil liberties and other pillars of liberal democracy as "bourgeois" and alien to the Soviet man and state. Gorbachev sought to convince the West that the Soviet Union was opening up for real. After the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union, Russia rid itself of its oppressive police state, and...

WASHINGTON -- The Cold War may be over, but relations between the United States and Russia are slowly begging to freeze over once again. Nowhere has this become more evident than in our dealings with the Islamic Republic of Iran. While the United States and its European allies remain committed to ensuring that Tehran will not acquire the capability to produce a nuclear weapon, Russia maintains its opposition -- along with China -- against any use of sanctions or the threat of force. This has damaged efforts to convince the Iranian regime that serious consequences can result from noncompliance. However,...

Moscow hires US for image revamp Russia is hiring a US public relations company to improve its image as it hosts the G8 summit of world leaders, according to the Financial Times. The government has completed a deal with US agency Ketchum worth millions of dollars, to advise Russia on how it should communicate with western media. Russia's G8 presidency in 2006 includes a summit in July in St Petersburg. The agency will address how to boost Russia's image as tensions about its strong position in the oil sector grow. Gas supplies President Putin's reputation has been under fire in...

U.S.-Russia chill revives Cold War memories MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev won a Nobel Peace Prize for helping thaw relations between Moscow and Washington. Now he is warning that the two countries could slide into a new Cold War. After over a decade when the relationship between Moscow and Washington was nearly always upbeat, the mood in the two capitals has turned "sour", according to one Western diplomat. The adversarial attitudes of the Cold War have been resurfacing everywhere from the statements of politicians to the views of people on the streets and the choice of villains...

The geopolitical history of the last century, in the course of which totalitarianism emerged, developed, and evolved to become the ineluctable lot of mankind that it is today, may be encapsulated in three short sentences. One: Stalin created Hitler. Two: Stalin sicked Hitler on the West. Three: Stalin got the West to become his ally in order to defeat Hitler. The bitter fruit of Stalin’s strategy was half of Europe falling into his lap. Bitter for no other reason but that all of Europe had been meant to fall to the prospective scourge of Nazi evil, as surely it would...