ALEKSANDR RAHR

Barack Obama sees the situation in proper perspective. Unlike his predecessor George Bush, Barack Obama understands that the U.S. cannot solve all the global and regional problems independently.

GIA ZHORZHOLIANI

The Russian leaders’ words that it is necessary to replace the Georgian authorities strengthen Mikheil Saakashvili’s positions. However I believe that drastic measures will not be taken. Both the authorities and the opposition are willing to act moderately.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

I believe that Barack Obama managed to avert another Russia-Georgia war and now Tbilisi is arguing more confidently that Russia’s war threat has been prevented. The question is for how long.  

ANDREY GROZIN

I believe that Central Asia wasn’t under discussion of the Russian and U.S. Presidents during the visit of Barack Obama to Moscow on July 6-8. Though, this discussion was highly expected in the countries of Central Asia.

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN

It is hard for the U.S.A. and other Western countries not to take into account Russia’s interests in the South Caucasus. In case there were any illusions in this respect, the five days war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 has dispelled them.

DAVID LOSABERIDZE

The situation in Georgia will be one of the issues of the negotiations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama which will be held on July 6 in Moscow.

MARIA YULIKOVA

US president Barack Obama will travel to Moscow in July this year for his second negotiations round with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The first meeting between the two leaders in London in April went well.

MARIA YULIKOVA

On April 1, 2009 Baraсk Obama met with the Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev to establish agenda for the future bilateral cooperation. Although the presidents agreed on a number of critical issues, the human rights violations and lack of rule of law in Russia were obviously put aside.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

The U.S. will not throw away its allies including Georgia for the sake of "reset" of the relations with Russia.

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN

There are no new tendencies or changes in the U.S. policy towards the South Caucasus after the new U.S. Administration has been formed. Barack Obama has not worked out his South Caucasian policy yet. For the time being, the new U.S. authorities focus on overcoming the economic crisis.

SVYATOSLAV POLKHOV

The Democrats’ coming to power in the U.S.A. is highly conducive to unexpected and far-reaching consequences for Russia’s foreign-policy interests. Moscow decided to pursue a preemptive tactic giving much money to Kyrgyzstan, actually in exchange for the closure of the American base in its territory.

AZAMAT TEMIRKULOV

Washington is altering its attitude to the Central Asian region in the context of Afghanistan. The main cause is to ensure routes to transfer the American cargo to Afghanistan.

VALERY CHALIY

Ukraine doesn’t want to be affected by the problems caused by the U.S.-Russia bad relations. This is one of the reasons why Ukraine is to welcome the fact that the issue of cutbacks in the nuclear arsenal can become of importance to the U.S.A. and Russia again.

GHIA NODIA

Frequent changes of Prime Ministers are good for the opposition members. They can criticize the authorities more actively, talk about the instability in the country, but they do not care who will be the next Prime Minister.

ZHIBEK SYZDYKOVA

The visit of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan to Moscow on February 3-4 showed Bishkek’s intention of improving the relations with Russia.

ANATOLY TSYGANOK

Bishkek’s foreign policy is similar to that one of Astana. Kyrgyzstan, like Kazakhstan, finds it important to keep on friendly terms both with the U.S.A. and Russia.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

In the eyes of the U.S. Administration Saakashvili represents the guarantor of stability and further development. If Saakashvili slowly but steadily promotes democratization in the country, he has nothing to worry about.

VIKTOR KREMENIUK

The rivalry between Moscow and Washington regarding the post-Soviet space will be still urgent under President Obama, but it won’t be crucial as it was under the previous Administration. A certain compromise is possible to achieve.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

It is difficult to forecast how diligently the Administration of President Barack Obama will follow the above-mentioned articles of the Charter. But there is a high probability (taking into consideration the increased tension in the Russia-U.S. relations) that Russia would consider the Charter as a challenge to its interests in South Caucasus.

ANDREY GROZIN

The main goal of the election was to confirm President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s image. It is almost two years since Saparmurat Niyazov died and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov became the President. It is necessary to show that he has more democratic beliefs than his predecessor had and is going to reform Turkmenistan’s political system.

SVYATOSLAV POLKHOV

Russia’s attempt to make the parties sign the “Kozak memorandum” again was strongly opposed by the West. Asif Chaudhry, the U.S. ambassador to Moldova, stated on 24 November that it made no sense to return to that document.

ANDREY GROZIN

Over the past year the U.S. and EU representatives have actively interacted with Tashkent. Uzbekistan’s foreign policy is the same as that of its neighbors – the Central Asian countries are guided by the much talked-about "multivector" policy.  

SERGEI ROGOV

Barack Obama is an outstanding policy-maker. He was considered to be a classical marginal politician, who had nothing to do with the U.S. political establishment and who was not taken seriously. But he felt that the U.S. voters expected changes.

MARIA YULIKOVA

Two months of blaming rhetoric between Russia and the US leaders, prompted by the August Caucasus crisis, nearly annihilated all the diplomatic achievements in the relationships between the two countries of the current millennium, and caused frustration among the diplomats on both sides.

DMITRY TRENIN, ALEXEI ARBATOV

According to Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev, the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia has changed the world. This may be an exaggeration, but in fact the war has changed the Russian foreign policy, it deeply influences Russia’s economy and Moscow's relations with the West and the New Independent States.

ROGER N MCDERMOTT

Current re-engagement between the U.S., NATO and Uzbekistan may be characterised as officially cautious and low key.

VIKTOR KREMENIUK

The Caucasian conflict indicates intense rivalry between the USA and Russia for the post-Soviet space. Russia still hopes to put an end to the expansion of the U.S. influence.

JESSICA MATTHEWS, PRESIDENT OF THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE; MARVIN KALB, PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

"When this campaign got started it was a perfect opportunity for new people to come in with new ideas and to try to come up with a formula, pattern, a way of behaving responsive to the new times", Marvin Kalb.

U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office for less than a year, but he already looks destined to preside over the decline of his country’s extensive global influence. In this sense, he is not unlike Mikhail Gorbachev, who closed the curtains on the Soviet Union to the applause of nearly everyone, save his own people.

A lot has been written about U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Kyiv. But the man didn’t say anything earth shattering, because there really wasn’t anything earth shattering to say. More importantly, it really wasn’t clear whom he should have been trying to deliver Washington’s message to in Ukraine, as no one has been in charge of the newly independent country for a long time.

For centuries, Ukraine's Cossacks were able to play off the superpowers of their time. Some would argue that the survival of the Ukrainian nation depended on a 'flexible' foreign policy. Unfortunately, the result of this policy was a culture of persistent internal division that eventually led to Russian domination.

The buzz over the election of America's first black president, Barack Obama, continues unabated. Fresh faced, eloquent and from a modest background, his 'story' sells well just about everywhere. But being liked so much for doing so little is a little like being king for a day, secretly hoping that the reality of tomorrow never has to come.

When were you last excited about an election in Russia? Any election? I've seen four presidential elections in Russia and the only one that had any excitement was in 1996 when many feared a Communist victory would swing the country back to its Soviet past.

The 2008 U.S. presidential-election campaign has been watched with much anticipation, both at home and abroad. There’s a woman vice president on the Republican ticket, and an African-American being fielded by the Democrats for the nation’s top job. Whichever party wins, history will be made.

President Putin must be watching the US presidential elections with some mild concern. Because the person who is emerging as the favourite for the US presidency – John McCain – is also one of Putin’s most outspoken critics among the US political elite.

The announced follow-on Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), to be signed by the US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on April 8 has served to re-focus strategic thinking on how the “reset” might further develop and the diversity of views on the role of nuclear deterrence.

NATO and the U.S. should continue to bear responsibility for providing basic military security in Afghanistan. But the solution to the complex of socio-economic problems should be found in a broader international context, with the direct participation of Afghanistan’s neighbors.

The recent developments in Russia lead to the question whether or not Russia has the potential and the resources to compete with the US - as the Soviet Union had for a long period of time.

53% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Russia and 34% of Russians negatively assess the performance of the leadership of the United States.

With a helping hand from South Korea, the United States has reestablished a strategic presence in Uzbekistan.

Following the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) summits in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev told President Nursultan Nazarbayev that only through the pursuit of joint economic projects would these countries be able to withstand the current financial crisis.

The first face-to-face talks between Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev were expected to shed light on what the notion of the “reset button” for US-Russian relationships promulgated by US Vice-President Joe Biden was really about.

Azerbaijan looks set to benefit from the closure of Manas, while Western planners refocus on expanding supply routes in a way that does not involve a scramble for alternative bases.

Interview with Irakli Alasania, leader of the Alliance for Georgia.

New cooperative arrangements and dynamics are needed in Central Asia, both to promote the stabilization of Afghanistan and strengthen regional security.

Uzbekistan is willing to cooperate with the alliance over the stabilization of Afghanistan by playing a future pivotal role in the northern supply route, sharing intelligence, and stimulating a more regional approach to the Afghan problem.

As Kyrgyzstan's parliament prepares to take up the question of closing the U.S. air base at Manas Airport, it appears Kyrgyzstan's "multivector" foreign policy may be coming to an end.

The interests of Kyrgyzstan and, accordingly, its policy with respect to the U.S. during the years of independence have not gone beyond the corridor of commercial preferences.

The US-Georgia Charter is not a Mutual Defence Pact. But It Draws Red Line for Russia.

Deepening Georgia’s integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is a mutual priority, and we plan to undertake a program of enhanced security cooperation intended to increase Georgian capabilities and to strengthen Georgia’s candidacy for NATO membership.

The August events have given a boost to major shifts in the alignment of forces and priorities in NATO territory, although these consequences will not become manifest in full at once.

I fear that in the U.S., too few understand the political and psychological problems of the Russians after the collapse of the USSR, the phantom pains of millions, and the problems of a massive country whose capital is nearly as close to Washington as to Vladivostok.

Barack Obama's election may have prompted celebrations from Chicago to Nairobi. But in Tbilisi, it was disappointment that carried the day, with many Georgians ruefully contemplating what John McCain's defeat would mean for them.