Nearly two years have passed since the Russian-Georgian war which revealed the weak points of the Russian Army and raised discussions on what army could be the most appropriate for Russia: professional army consisting of professional contract soldiers, or a conscript army recruited according to the Russian Law on Military Service. These discussions have been lasting for several decades.

It seems that efforts are made to establish the energy autonomy in the Kaliningrad Region.. This was demonstrated at the end of May during the meeting of the regional governor G.Boos with president D.Medvedev. President was asked to commit the Federal Tariff Council to coordinate the prices of gas supplied to the Kaliningrad Region with the average price of the European regions, since, according to G.Boos, „during the recent six years [...] it has increased more than twice“.

Political situation in Russia shows that there is no lack of opposition forces in the country, however, none of them play the key role. During the recent decade the model of the authoritarian state has been developed in Russia, and such a form of power does not tolerate the oppositionism. The current opposition forces are either persecuted by the authorities or have been simply domesticated.

The new Russian military doctrine was approved on 5 February. This time it seems logical, explicit and not overloaded with „empty“ information. Russia’s position seems to be firm and cautionary. Certain theoretical and practical moments of the doctrine require special attention.

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.

Sinikka Hurskainen, Rapporteur on the political situation in Belarus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has arrived in Minsk for “collecting information, for meeting with people and for discussing the situation in the country”.

The Mayor of Moscow Jurij Lushkov is visiting Riga on 25 August.  According to the Telegraph, the top leaders of Latvia ignore this visit.

Belarus is dealing with the issue concerning the acquisition of the antiaircraft-missile complex C-400 from Russia, reported to the BELTA correspondent Major-General Igor Azarionok, the Commander of the military air forces and ABM of Belarus.

Journalists of the Kaliningrad newspaper “Страж Балтики“ (‘Guard of the Baltics’ – the official publication of the Baltic Fleet) have disclosed certain specific details about the naval exercise of maritime forces, which were carried out in the Baltic Sea in June 2010.

The president of Syria Bashar Asad is paying an official visit to Belarus on 26- 27 July.

The President Viktor Janukovich signed the earlier approved by the Parliament Law on “The Principles of Foreign and Internal Policy”, which enforces the status of the Ukraine outside the block and revokes the joining of the country into the NATO, reported on 15 July NEWSru.ua referring to the press office of the Government.

Military officials of the region have been substituted by the strategic commandment