Cold showers in Munich

The turning point in bilateral relationships between Russia and the rest of the Western world happened in Munich in February 2007. Well, actually it was not really a surprise although a few commentators wanted to make us think so.

"We are no longer in ideological conflict with the West," he said. "Russia is a totally different country," Putin said there.

How right he is. Nothing is as it used to be a few years back when the West was happy to get over the flamboyant and notorious Boris Yeltsin and the political vacuum he left at the turn of the century. A former KGB spy? Why not, if he is at least organized?

Today we face Russia and look at issues we would not have dreamed that could erupt:

1. We openly worry about the future of the energy supply we get from Russia.
2. We face increasing democratic hic ups in Russia's civil society.
3. We are confronted with a rampant corruption in Russia with no signs of getting better.
4. We see Russia openly selling arms to rouge states like Iran and even are not surprised if Russian arms that were shipped via Syria to Hizbullah are killing Jewish citizens.
5. We witness Russia meddling in South Ossetia, Transdniestria and even Ukraine.
6. We are not even suprised by Russia's human rights record any more, where politicians, journalists and citizens are killed, silenced or just blocked from elections.
   

Actually one could continue the list on topics such as international relations (Sudan, Syria) environemental issues (Kyoto, Nuclear energy and waste, water and air quality ->e.g. Norlisk Nickel), business (e.g. Sakhalin). Is there anything that is done right?