Remember back in February when the Russians flew a delegation into Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, offering an extremely generous aid package of about $2 billion?  Days later, the local dictatorship revoked the deal with Washington on the Manas air base, a critical supply line to the military campaign in Afghanistan.  Months later, those clever Kyrgyz turned around and told the Obama administration they could keep the base, but at triple the rent.  No word on whether or not Russia got a refund.It's hard to keep up on all the back forth - such as Russia granting greater permissions for NATO flyover rights, or their lobbying to build two airbases of their own in the Central Asian republic.  However one of the main speculations on the Manas reversal was that the government of Kurmanbek Bakiyev was looking to give the Americans ...

TODAY: Conflicting voices on air base deal; US hits back at Shuvalov's comments on WTO accession; fears of new Russian incursion prevalent in Georgia; priests find new role in crisis; Communists present Stalin as economic inspirationThe Kremlin claims that the US deal with Kyrgyzstan to continue using the Manas air base was approved by Russia in 'support all steps aimed at stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan'.  A Russian diplomat would appear to differ; saying that the news was 'a very unpleasant surprise for us -- we did not expect such a trick'.  The US has hit back against Igor Shuvalov's claims that Washington and the EU were to blame for Russia's decision to back out of ...

TODAY: Medvedev meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and LAS in Cairo; supports idea of Middle East peace talks before year's end; Lavrov says Russian security idea is not anti-NATO; European report launches stinging attack on Russian justice systemMedvedev has announced that Moscow plans to hold a Middle East peace conference before the end of 2009, an idea supported by Egypt.  In a meeting with the League of Arab States, Medvedev commented that the peace process might result in an independent Palestine with the capital in East Jerusalem.  The BBC comments on the motivation for the trip: 'in terms of influence, Russia lags far behind China and the US - not just in Egypt but right ...

One of the oldest tricks in the authoritarian playbook is the subtle theft of the people's sovereignty, grafting the rights of citizens onto a regime of personal power. Cuba's Fidel Castro was and is the grandmaster of this tactic - firmly uniting himself, his name, his family, and his Revolution, and the country.  If you go against Fidel, this means you are going against the Revolution and against the national interests.  It's all inseparable, you see?  There's no shortage of contemporary examples, ranging from the rhetorical artistry of Hugo Chavez to the skillful disaggregation of African opposition by Robert Mugabe.

It's the same in Russia.  Whenever someone criticizes Vladimir Putin, the party, the siloviki, or government policy, this individual is instantly cast as a deranged "anti-Russian" whose hate

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A couple billion dollars can go a really long way in some Central Asian countries, and its a pity that the United States and other NATO members didn't realize that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was more or less "up for sale."  But the Kremlin jumped in first with a generous aid package, the troops will get kicked out of the Manas air base by the end of August, and any chance of Washington renegotiating for access to the base are unlikely now that Moscow has opened up the taps - delivering some of the first tranches of the package to the tune of $450 million.  The autocrats of Bishkek are happy tonight... especially with an election coming up in July.  Is it really possible that in the ...

During my interview with David Satter, I asked about the Russian decision to push the United States out of the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, thereby hampering NATO's chances of success in Afghanistan - which is arguably one example of NATO working to contribute to Russian national security - among other topics (missiles, Ukraine, proliferation in Iran, etc.).  Surely Russia has some "legitimate" security concerns that the West should recognize and work together on, but often the diplomacy pushes out in other directions toward seemingly "invented" security concerns to play politics.  On the other hand, so far any overtures to cooperate on security are poorly received.  What gives?  Here is one opinion: ...

TODAY: Medvedev the latest to criticize NATO exercises; perseverance required in nuclear talks; budget revenues may fall short; one million temporary jobs to be created; London's Speakers Corner 'cool' President Medvedev has spoken out against the NATO war games to take place in Georgia, calling the move 'the wrong decision'.  China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have engaged in military exercises for the first time since Kyrgyzstan said it would close down the Manas air base, the last U.S. air base in Central Asia.  At a conference for 'Overcoming Nuclear Dangers', Mikhail Gorbachev and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz have discussed their failed 1986 US-Russia Reykjavik summit and urged the new presidents to persevere when it comes to nuclear disarmament talks. ...