On 6 January, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car at a police station in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala. Seven militia officers were killed, 16 were wounded. After the explosion president D.Medvedev asked to strengthen security measures in Dagestan; however it is difficult to imagine what could Russia do in the region which has been rapidly escaping from Moscow‘s control.

The Lithuanians are surprised: according to public polls, the Russians consider Lithuania as one of the most unfriendly foreign countries. The Lithuanians try to calm themselves down and are nearly sure that this is falsification of the survey results ordered by the Kremlin. In view of this other surveys (concerning nostalgia of the Russians for the Soviet Union, the attitude towards the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) might also reflect not the opinion of the Russian society…

Although Russia has been knocking on the World Trade Organization (WTO) door for 16 years, so far its efforts were unsuccessful.

During the meeting in Almaty on September 25, the EurAsEC Integration Committee of the European Economic Community announced the end of elaboration of the uniform customs duties for the Community‘s Customs Union (CU).

The Russian president D.Medvedev submitted to the State Duma the draft Law stipulating more reasons to start war beyond the country’s borders, and not requiring the consent of the Federation Council (FC).

The Russian President D.Medvedev established a special commission to counteract against „attempts to falsify history that undermine the interests of Russia“. The commission would consist of 28 representatives from President‘s Administration, Duma, FSB, Security Council, General Headquarters, the ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture and other state institutions.

Over the past few years various forms of nationalism have become aspects of everyday Russian political and social life. Among others, ultra-nationalist theoretician Alexander Dugin, a marginal conspiracy theorist in the 1990s,  has since then become a respected commentator and writer on contemporary world affairs in general, and Russia’s foreign policy in particular.

The current economic crisis might become stipulate the emergence of a new global structure. In this context the question arises: is the current crisis artificial (provoked by the global interest groups) or spontaneous (caused by the careless policy of the United States)? The author of the article has chosen the latter option.

The global financial crisis affected Russia, including the flight of capital from the country after the war in Georgia, and possible budget deficit because of lowered oil prices. But some Russians were rejoicing over the crisis. In order to understand that it is necessary to recall certain past events.

At the end of the last year Joseph Stalin was voted Russia’s third most popular historical figure in the "Name of Russia" contest run by Rossiya state television channel.

Life of the opposition in Russia is unenviable. The current authoritarian Russia referring to itself as „a sovereign democracy“, executes a triple policy regarding the democratic opposition.

First of all, by taking advantage of the national TV, the Russian authorities constantly blackmail the opposition for its „anti-state“ and „anti-Russian“ activities.

By the end of the year Russia’s minister of finance A.Kudrin said that there is no recession in the country and that economic problems will be tackled. But independent experts are skeptical towards the optimistic forecasts. In the middle of December Russia’s Central Bank has again devalued the ruble against its target dollar/euro basket, whereas commercial banks practically stopped giving loans to citizens.

St. Petersburg is Moscow‘s competitor in the contraposition of two major and most important Russian cities. This contraposition implies a huge  symbolic meaning.

Turkey's current Ergenekon scandal has many peculiarities one of them being the appearance of the name of Alexander Dugin, the leader of Russia's so-called International Eurasian Movement, in connection with the conspiracy. Who is this man? Today, Dugin is a prolific political commentator and, some say, influential pundit in Putin's new Russia.

As the world watched how the Americans elected their first black president, it has been largely ignored that, across the ocean, another historic event was taking place simultaneously in Moscow. On November 5th, 2008, Dmitry Medvedev gave his first presidential address to the Federal Assembly, i.e. the two houses of Russian parliament.

Aleksandr Dugin is a Russian geopolitician and a representative of the classical geopolicy school. According to this school, the fate of states is determined by their geographical determinism. It also says that contraposition of continental and marine powers, coinciding with the confrontation between the East and the West, is predetermined. The goal of each side is to restrict each other’s powers.

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.