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

INTERVIEW
Sharing the Responsibility’
Michael Levitin 11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM
He was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the leading voice behind Germany's refusal to fight in Iraq. Now German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the Social Democratic Party candidate for chancellor in next year's elections, running against the popular Christian Democrat incumbent, Angela Merkel. In his first major interview with the U.S. press, Steinmeier sat down with NEWSWEEK's Michael Levitin to discuss German troop engagements in Afghanistan, Russia's recent aggression, the global financial crisis and how Germany might work alongside the United States. Excerpts:
WORLD AFFAIRS
The Medvedev Doctrine
Owen Matthews 11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM
Just what exactly does Dmitry Medvedev want? Six months into his tenure at the Kremlin, the Russian president's signals are so mixed, he has Western policymakers and diplomats baffled. In speech after speech, to audiences at home and abroad, he has talked forcefully of putting an end to Russia's culture of corruption; diversifying Russia's economy beyond the oil and gas industry; integrating Russia into the world economy; instituting the rule of law; and guaranteeing freedom of speech. He has said Russia should be a country where ordinary people take a "more active role in the country's political life." Yet at the same time, he has blasted Washington for destabilizing the world's finances; blamed the United States for provoking the August war with Georgia; laid claim to Russia's "privileged interests" in its neighborhood; and proposed a massive shift in the global "architecture," which would give Russia a more pronounced say in world affairs.
LETTERS
Peace of Mind
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Readers marveled at what cognitive neuroscientists are uncovering about the biology of the brain and its impact on human feelings, part of our HEALTH FOR LIFE package. One pointed to the intangible, transcendent "dimensions of consciousness." Another stated simply: "Science reveals more mysteries than it explains."
WORLD REACTION
A Vote Heard 'Round The World'
11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
The winner takes it all. I have loved ABBA's "Mamma Mia" musical since I first saw it in New York's Winter Garden theater a few years ago. And those were the lyrics sounding in my head when it became clear that Barack Obama won the White House race. Wow, a night to remember! Certainly, it was a long night, waiting for the results in Warsaw as well. I spent it jumping from one TV station to another, where I was commenting on the elections, and then a longer while at the Warsaw Intercontinental Hotel, where the U.S. Embassy had its election-night party. It was hugely crowded, with a few hundred excited Americans and Poles: discussing, drinking—even dancing. The clear majority there wore Obama-Biden badges ...
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 Death of the Dissident
Owen Matthews 10/25/2008 12:00:00 AM
For centuries, a good majority of Russia's young and well-educated elite have looked westward for inspiration and role models—some of them revolutionary like Karl Marx, or more recently free marketers like Margaret Thatcher. Even during the years of Boris Yeltsin's chaotic reforms, most educated Russians still believed on some level that Russia's best hope for becoming a "normal" country was to follow the West's course of democracy and capitalism. A significant core of liberal democrats remained well into the eight-year rule of Vladimir Putin,and his relentless campaign to restore Russia's position as a great power.