Stephen Cohen is professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and the author of several books on Russia and the Former Soviet Union. He was recently awarded the highest state honor given to foreigners, the Order of Friendship, “for his large contribution to strengthening Russian-American cooperation,” by the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. “In effect, we are in a new Cold War today and we need anti-Cold War presidents… The two sides view each other as enemies. What we have to hope for is that the leadership on both sides has the wisdom, the vision and the power to change that, because in foreign policy, more than in domestic policy, leaders matters most. If they don’t, we are in deep trouble.”  

-- 05/07/2009 >>>

Blair Ruble is the Director of the Kennan Institute, covering Russia and the surrounding states, at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International scholars. He is also the Chair of the Comparative Urban Studies Project. “Ideology is a lens through which we all act; I don’t think there is any doubt about that. We can say that ideology might not matter, but certainly in terms of Russia and the United States we face very critical and practical issues right now. We don’t have the luxury of putting on ideological blinders and having them lead us through.” -- 04/10/2009 >>>

Norman J. Ornstein is a resident scholar at AEI. He also serves as an election analyst for CBS News and writes a weekly column called "Congress Inside Out" for Roll Call newspaper. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and other major publications. He is also the author of numerous books. “Today, instead of viewing the other party as adversaries they tend to think of them as the enemy. The enemy you want to destroy. And so it’s a much different dynamic. That is the real difference between now and the past.”

-- 04/10/2009 >>>

Dr. Stephen Blank is a Research Professor of National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute United States Army War College, specializing in Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe. His two most recent books are Russo-Chinese Energy Relations: Politics in Command, and Natural Allies?: Regional Security in Asia and Prospects for Indo-American Strategic Cooperation. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago. “What Russia is demanding right now from the United States is essentially surrender. No missile defense, no NATO enlargement, and recognition of Russia as a hegemon with a privileged influence in the CIS and in Afghanistan.”

-- 03/20/2009 >>>

Stephen Kotkin is a Professor of European history and Director of Russian Studies at Princeton University. He has written a two-volume study on the rise and fall of Soviet socialism as seen through the example of an industrial town—Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization and Steeltown USSR: Soviet Society in the Gorbachev Era. “Most empires collapse with tremendous violence. So it’s already a big achievement that the Soviet Union collapsed more or less peacefully. That’s a big achievement not just for Russia but for everybody in the world.”

-- 03/13/2009 >>>

John W. Sloan is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. He is the author of several books, his latest book is “FDR and Reagan: Transformative Presidents with Clashing Visions.” “Obama certainly has the opportunity to be a reconstructive president. He has come into office after the failed presidency of George W. Bush who claimed he was trying to fulfill the conservative visions of Ronald Reagan. Bush’s failures are giving Obama the authority to promote new policies that violate the dogmas of Reagan’s conservative regime such as raising taxes on the rich and increasing governmental regulations.”

-- 03/03/2009 >>>

Interview with Stuart D. Goldman, Specialist in Russian and Eurasian Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service. “We have a lot of competitors out there. Many think tanks generate reports, position papers and so on. The big difference is that they all have a policy agenda they keep pushing and we don’t. So our comparative advantage is, whether it’s a very conservative republican or a really liberal democrat, if they ask CRS a question they know they will get a straight answer.” -- 02/12/2009 >>>

S. Frederick Starr is a Research Professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is the founding chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program. Starr is the author of 20 books and more than 200 articles on Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia. “Why should Central Asia in the 21-st century be discussed in the colonial terms of the 19-th century? Yet that is exactly what many persist in doing. And where the Central Asians are absolutely united among themselves, and rightfully so, is in their insistence that they be enabled to practice self government on a national and regional basis, without being controlled from the outside.” -- 02/06/2009 >>>

Peter Chalk (Ph.D. in Political Science, University of British Columbia, Canada) is a senior political analyst at the Rand Corporation, dealing with transnational security threats, evolving trends in national and international terrorism, and international organized crime. “The reason I think that piracy has emerged in the news at the moment is twofold. First, because it’s occurring in a geopolitically strategic area of the world, mainly off the horn of Africa, which has immediate implications for what is going on around the Arabian Peninsula. Second, because the capabilities of the pirates today seem to have expanded considerably from what they were in the past.” -- 01/22/2009 >>>

Gordan Van Hook is currently with Maersk Line, Limited as their Senior Director for Innovation and Concept Development. Recently retired from the US Navy after 29 years, Captain Van Hook is a third generation naval officer. He also holds an MS in Information systems from the Naval Postgraduate School and an MA in National Security Strategy from the Naval War College. “The industry also has to take measures of its own. First, we don’t transit the area unless we have ships that can make at least 18 knots or have 10 meters of freeboard, because no ship has been taken that can travel at over 15 knots. So if high fast ships go through, they can’t get at them, but if you are low and slow, the pirates feel like they have an opportunity to take it.” -- 01/22/2009 >>>