Mark N. Katz

The Putin-Chavez Partnership

Oil wealth makes Venezuela more attractive than Cuba as a Latin American partner for Russia.

The decline of Soviet power

Predictions abound concerning the imminent decline of Soviet power and c o m m u n i s m generally. Prominent Western analysts, both conservative and liberal, have pointed to the plethora of problems M o s c o w faces which appear to make Soviet decline inevitable: economic stagnation, lagging technical development , bureaucratic obstruction of needed economic reform, increasing ethnic tension within the U S S R , the mount ing economic and political problems of Eas te rn E u r o p e , setbacks in the Third World, and the much diminished appeal of Marx i sm generally. Soviet officials have also openly acknowledged many of these problems and have warned of dire consequences for the Soviet Union i f they are not resolved. Mikhail G o r b a c h e v himself, for example, declared that ethnic tension within the U S S R could endanger «the destiny and integrity of our state)).1

Democratic Revolutions: Why Some Succeed, Why Others Fail

S ince the latter years of the cold war, strong democratic revolutionary movements seek ing the overthrow of authoritarian regimes have arisen in many countries. Such movements have succeeded in some areas, including the Philip pines (1986), South Korea (1988), the countries of Eastern Europe (1989), Russia (1991), and Serbia (2000). On the other hand, in other coun tries strong democratic movements were crushed before they could take power, such as in China (1989), Burma/Myanmar (1990), and Algeria (1992). In each of these cases, strong movements demanded the ouster of incumbent authoritari

Revolution: Refining Its Defining

Definitions of revolution have strongly influenced theorization about it. We argue here that revolution is a highly variable phenomenon. Rigid definitions of revolution do not allow for theorizing which explains this variability. Revolution can occur to various degrees along various dimensions. These include the political, international, economic, cultural, ethnic, and gender dimensions. Revolutions do not necessarily affect all these dimensions equally. Revolutions that have led to great change along some of these dimensions have also led to little or no change along others. We further argue that an understanding of revolution requires an understanding of what maintains social order.

Transnational Revolutionary Ideologies

The definitive version of this document can be found here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b0qvjvke6428b5dr/ This document was created using OCR technology, and may contain minor discrepancies from the published document.

Saudi-Russian Relations Since 9/11

Saudi Arabia and Russia have established a truce, but many issues threaten their fragile rapprochement.

Playing the Angles: Russian diplomacy before and during the war in Iraq

The definitive version of this document can be found at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com This document was created using OCR technology, and may contain minor discrepancies from the published document.

What Do We Do If the Saudi Monarchy Falls

Although by no means a certainty, the growing internal problems inside the Kingdom as well as the increased strains in Saudi-American relations since September 11 both indicate that the downfall of the monarchy may be more likely now than in the past. How could America respond to such an eventuality? The impact of this “worst case” scenario would be so enormous that some thought clearly needs to be given to what U.S. foreign policy options might be even if the probability of its occurrence is seen as low. If the probability of this scenario is seen as high, then this task is even more urgent. This paper argues that while responding to the downfall of the Saudi monarchy will not be easy, there are some strategies that the United States can adopt to contain the threat that it will pose.

Assessing Saudi Susceptibility to Revolution

An anti-Western revolution in Saudi Arabia would have severe negative consequences for the West, as the Kingdom possesses more proven petroleum reserves than any other country in the world. Indeed, the Saudi government has closely cooperated with the West in economic, political, and military affairs, and the United States has greatly benefited from its close partnership with the Kingdom ever since the discovery of oil there in the first part of the twentieth century. In fact, the strength and duration of Saudi-American cooperation has been remarkable, considering the many anti-American political movements and governments that have risen up during this period in the Middle East.

Post-Soviet Russian Foreign Policy Toward The Middle East

Since the breakup of the USSR in 1991, there has been significant change in Moscows Middle East policy. During much of the Cold War, Moscow sought to project Soviet influence throughout even the far off Arab region of the Middle East. In the post-Cold War era, though, Russian foreign policy has focused on that part of the Middle East closest to the former USSR-the Northern Tier. This article will examine the major aspects of post-Cold War Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East in order to identify Moscows multiple goals in the region and discuss Moscows capacity for achieving them. First, though, a brief review of the different stages of Imperial and Soviet foreign policy toward the region is necessary in order to show the extent to which post-Cold War Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East has and has not changed.