For some time, Western sources have been accusing Moscow of backing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Russia / NIS

Russia—as a great power, an emerging market and an energy heavyweight—is intriguing. Both Russia and the post-Soviet space tend to be somewhat volatile and impenetrable.
The Russia/NIS Center, however, casts light on this region. Created in 2004, it anticipates new developments, enriches public debate and empowers decision-making on issues related to Russia and the New Independent States (NIS).
The Center regularly publishes papers on a wide array of themes, from central issues (such as the interaction between foreign policy and energy policy) to topics that are more innovative in France such as the Russian government’s attitude to internet governance, and the competitiveness of Russian universities.
The Center’s digital collection Russie.Nei.Visions (set up in 2005 and available in Russian, English and French) has become an important resource. Its analyses are widely disseminated via social networks and our researchers have a strong presence in French and international media.
Since the Center’s fouding, Ifri has hosted several top political representatives and key economic players in the Russian/NIS space. Attendees at Ifri’s seminars and conferences, include former Ukrainian presidents V. Yushchenko and V. Yanukovych, former Georgian president M. Saakashvili and Russian Minister for Economic Development A. Ulyukayev.
The Center maintains a strong presence in the field, staying close to public authorities and multinational firms in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) area. It has also developed many partnerships with think tanks and research institutes in Europe, the United States, China, Japan and the post-Soviet space.
Director of Ifri's Russia-NIS Center
...Research Fellow, Russia / NIS Center
...Research Fellow, Russia / NIS Center
...Project Officer, Russia/NIS Center
Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Fellow, Russia/NIS Center and Geopolitics of Technologies Program
...Associate Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...The traditional characterisation of Moldova as a bridge between two civilisations, Russian Orthodox and the West, seems to have become outdated.
This monograph argues that the Syrian experience may leave a major imprint on Russian strategic thought and operational art.
The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) called for tailoring assurance across America’s allies, including NATO, as part of an overall deterrence and assurance strategy.
The July 16, 2018, face-to-face between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is both entirely natural and extremely unconventional, very encouraging and deeply disturbing.
In the course of his presidency, Vladimir Putin has presided over a remarkable expansion of Russian foreign policy.
The Ukrainian crisis has brought to light the key role played by new international networks as instruments of public diplomacy in time of war. Focusing on RT and Ukraine Today in the asymmetrical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, this article analyzes the operation and strategies of...
This report seeks to explain the main trends in Russia’s evolving Afghanistan policy, with the focus on its regionalization, diversification, and new emphasis on diplomacy that culminated in Moscow regional peace consultations. It argues that none of Russia’s Afghanistan-related concerns can...
How can we define Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy since he took office? After Nicolas Sarkozy’s brazen style of “gutsy diplomacy” and François Hollande’s “normal diplomacy”, the eighth president of the Fifth Republic seems to have opted for an agile classicism. In substance, he makes no claim...
The struggle against terrorism is supposed to be one part of security policy in which Russia has every necessary capability and know-how, and its special services can draw on vast experience without encountering the legal and institutional constraints that often interfere with Western efforts....
The future of the Russian university system: which strategies for which goals? Les Mensuelles Ifri/Entreprises
A luncheon debate with Tatiana KASTOUÉVA-JEAN, Researcher, Russia/NIS Center, Ifri
...
Putin III: Still in the Prime of Life?
Déjeuner débat réservé aux entreprises membres de l'Ifri, sur invitation personnelle.
Avec Thomas Gomart, directeur du Centre Russie/NEI eet du Développement stratégique, Ifri
Réélu avec 63 % des suffrages au premier tour, Vladimir Poutine commence un troisième mandat...
The Internet in Russia and China
co-organized by the Russia/NIS Center and the Center for Asian Studies,
...
The Russian Elite in Search of a Development Model
The next Russian president will take up office in one year's time. With a mandate now fixed at six years, his vision for the country will be implemented to 2018. Russia's development model and its implications for the country's international position are subject to more or less open debate...
Informal Practices and Anti-Corruption Strategies in Russia
With Alena LEDENEVA, Professor of Politics and Society at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London, UK)
...
"Research Universities": outlook and challenges for the future. Comparing Russian and French experiences
Depuis quelques années, l'enseignement supérieur russe est en pleine restructuration. Le gouvernement russe a lancé la création des "universités nationales de recherche", leaders dans leurs domaines respectifs, et des "universités fédérales", à vocation régionale. L'Ifri accueille quatre de...
Hard et soft powers dans la politique étrangère russe
Depuis le début de la décennie, la Russie manifeste une volonté de modifier son image au moyen d'outils de soft power. Cet effort de soft power et la préoccupation pour l'image projetée à l'extérieur n'ont cependant pas empêché le raidissement de la politique étrangère russe...
What are Georgia's Foreign Policy Options?
Conference-debate with Grigol Vashadze, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
Chairman: Thomas Gomart
Reforming the Higher Education Sector
Tatiana Kastueva-Jean in the framework of the 996 Wilton Park Conference, 'Dialogue with Russia: Moving from a Resource Based to a Knowledge Based Economy', November 20th, 2009.
Russia Foreign Policy Towards Europe in 2009: What Has Been the Main Driver?
Thomas Gomart in the framework of the roundtable "Russian Foreign Policy in 2009" with Stephen Blank (US War College), Aurel Braun (Toronto University), Craig Nation (US War College), Carol Saivetz (Harvard...
3 questions to Stephen SZABO, Executive Director, Transatlantic Academy.
3 questions to Andrey KORTUNOV, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
What are the Current Challenges for Gazprom and Russia’s Energy Policy? What are the Gas Risks for Europe? Is the Nord Stream-II a Risk or an Opportunity for Europe?
Russia's Pivot to Asia. Assessment and Strategic Implications.
Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, analyses the factors driving Russia’s push to expand its influence in Asia. Interview recorded at the French institute of international relations on 15 April 2016.
"Past year has been marked not only with the Ukrainian crisis and unprecedented tensions in political relations between Russia and the West, but also with somewhat radical change of Moscow’s approach to international energy affairs. Widely promoted new energy partnerships...
Disputed rocks and Beijing’s bad behavior in the South China Sea dominate the headlines these days. But there’s another showdown over disputed islands in the Pacific that is increasingly casting a shadow over Asia-Pacific security: a bitter fight between Japan and Russia over the Kurils...
The speakers from the Annual Conference on the United States summarize their talks in short videos. Here, Jeff Mankoff analyzes the strategies put in place by the United States with hopes of containing the situation in Ukraine.
The weekend meeting between the French and Russian presidents has given France a chance to become "the new Germany" for Russia, which lost its last Western ally after a falling-out with official Berlin, analysts say.
...Fyodor Lukyanov (Russia in Global Affairs) and Thomas Graham (Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University) participated in the seminar “Germany, France and the United States: Towards a Renewed Transatlantic Dialog” which took place on November 17 and 18, 2014 at...
Rebel commander Alexander Zakharchenko smiled only slightly on hearing that he had won this weekend's elections in Donetsk, Ukraine (pictured). The results were never in doubt: Mr Zakharchenko's nominal opponents openly supported him, and his face was the only one on...