Russia

The End of the Cold War Proves Diplomacy Can Work Today

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, EWI Board Member Amb. Wolfgang Ischinger calls for a modern day Helsinki Accords in order to avoid a return to the Cold War and insure stability and cooperation in Europe. 

The new world order: new rules or no rules?”, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin at his annual Valdai discussion club. It does not take much debate to work out that “no rules” is not an attractive idea. A society without rules would mean Thomas Hobbes’ war of all against all.

International rules are violated from time to time but that does not make them less vital. In Europe the rules governing relations between east and west are the 1975 Helsinki accords. The period that followed the agreement was, by historical standards, one of relative stability. Twenty-five years after the cold war’s end, the situation is more precarious. Russia’s seizure of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine bring uncertainty and insecurity.

So how to restore security and co-operation in Europe? A panel of political leaders and diplomats, asked this question by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, reached the conclusion that we do not need new rules. We need to create a context where the existing rules can work.

To read the entire article on the Financial Times, click here. (Paywall)

Cyberspace Initiative 2016-2017 Action Agenda

The EastWest Institute's Global Cooperation in Cyberspace Initiative has announced its work program for 2016-17. The Action Agenda 2016-2017 also reviews the initiative's accomplishments during 2015. 

In 2016, EWI will advocate for change in cyberspace security policies in governments and corporate headquarters worldwide, including recommendations that will help convict more cyber criminals, make information and communications products more secure and slow the cyber arms race.

New work areas include addressing such international cyber challenges as the spread of strong encryption and the Internet of Everything. This and other work will be supported through working meetings in person and online.

To enhance its reach and effectiveness, EWI has named Bruce McConnell, who directs the cyber initiative, as its Global Vice President. McConnell has relocated to San Francisco where he will continue to head EWI's cyberspace cooperation work. He will also solidify and expand support for all of EWI's programs in the western U.S. and the Far East. 

Read the full report here.

Download a printable version

Afghan Narcotrafficking Steering Group Meeting

Overview

The EastWest Institute held a three-day meeting of its U.S.-Russia experts steering group on Afghan narcotrafficking in Moscow at the end of June. Co-chaired by EastWest’s vice president, David Firestein, and the institute’s Russia office director, Vladimir Ivanov, the meeting was convened specifically to assess the implications of the current systemic crisis in Russia’s relations with the West on the security situation and counternarcotics efforts in and around Afghanistan. 

The meeting involved leading experts from the EastWest Institute’s bilateral Joint U.S.-Russia Working Group on Afghan Narcotrafficking: Ilnur Batyrshin, head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service’s research center; Ivan Safranchuk, associate professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations; Konstantin Sorokin, advisor at the International Training and Methodology Centre for Financial Monitoring; Ekaterina Stepanova, head of the Peace and Conflict Studies Unit at the Institute of the World Economy and International Relations; George Gavrilis, visiting scholar at the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life at Columbia University; and Austin Long, assistant professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. The steering group meeting also included Patricia Nicholas, project manager in the International Program at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, whose generous contribution makes possible the work of this EastWest Institute experts group on Afghan narcotrafficking.

 

To read more about this event, click here.

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