Are Russia and the West Facing a New Cold War? | Newsweek International

Look Away!
7/29/2009 12:00:00 AM
Politicians don't always get to choose their friends. For the sake of good relations with strategically important countries, Washington sometimes turns a blind eye to the human-rights abrogations, domestic unpopularity, and the deep character flaws of their leaders. Oppressing minorities, inciting wars, refusing to let go of power—these are all qualities that can be tolerated if a politician or his country can serve America's regional interests. Once in a while, it's as simple as propping up a dictator, the common Cold War complaint about U.S. foreign policy that rewarded any enemy of our enemy. But sometimes the leaders are genuinely complex people perpetrating ambiguous policies. Here, then, is an unscientific and incomplete survey of leaders that the United States needs—and sometimes likes—but who offer reliable bouts of indigestion.
GEORGIA
A Coup for the Kremlin
Owen Matthews 4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
Five years ago, tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets to overthrow a corrupt, pro-Russian government and put a bright, young, American-educated lawyer into power. It was a heady and hopeful time—not just for Georgia, but for a swath of post-Soviet countries that had gained nominal independence but were still mired in crony capitalism and political dependence on Moscow. Georgia's new leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, was "energetic, well educated —he liked to take risks," remembers Nino Burzhanadze, one of his closest allies during the Rose Revolution. "He had 100 percent support in his country and practically 100 percent support in the West —no other president in the world has ever had the chances that President Saakashvili had."
THE LAST WORD
Mikheil Saakashvili : Where Are My Western Friends?
Anna Nemtsova 4/11/2009 12:00:00 AM
In the largest opposition demonstration in Georgia since November 2007— WHEN President Mikheil Saakashvili tested his democratic credentials by sending in riot police to quash the protests—tens of thousands of people filled Tbilisi's leafy Rustaveli Avenue last Thursday to demand Saakashvili's resignation. The president retreated to his residence, where he spoke with NEWSWEEK's Anna Nemtsova about the crowds on the street, his difficult relationship with Russia and how the West has largely abandoned him in recent months. Excerpts:
WORLD AFFAIRS
How the West Won Ukraine
Owen Matthews 12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
In Brussels last week, NATO foreign ministers met to hash out details on whether Ukraine and Georgia should be allowed into the military alliance, and to figure out how even to make that decision without appearing to appease or provoke Russia, which has bitterly opposed it. Finally, after two days of diplomatic wrangling and 22 drafts of a communiqué, Western Europeans, led by Germany and France, finally succeeded in blocking U.S. efforts to offer Ukraine and Georgia a formal path into NATO. But this obscures a simple fact: support for NATO membership has been waning fast among Ukraine's political elite, with little more than 10 percent of parliamentary deputies actively backing accession. Meantime Ukrainians have their eye on a bigger prize. Close to 50 percent of Ukrainians, and all the major political parties, now favor joining the European Union—up from 30 percent four years ago.
CAMPAIGN 2008
Projections of Power
Andrew Nagorski 11/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
So the seemingly endless U.S. presidential campaign is finally ending. If it started with a high level of excitement, it soon began to feel like Mao's Long March, a grueling journey where only the true believers could maintain their enthusiasm. Now, there will be more than just relief that the journey is over: there will be a new burst of excitement. This happens whenever a new president takes office, but it'll be doubly the case here. The weariness with eight years of the Bush administration and fears about the global economy guarantees that, at least for a while, the new team will inspire new hope at home and abroad, almost a dizzying sense of new possibilities.
WORLD AFFAIRS
The Realist Resurgence
Christopher Dickey 10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM