Articles by Rama Sampath Kumar

Separatist movements across the globe are demanding self-determination and independence, prompting major powers who are seeking geopolitical advantage to intervene in these regions. The endorsement of Kosovo's independence by the United States and the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia over separatists in South Ossetia have set precedents for others. If the major powers continue to involve themselves in such issues, there is the danger of the tensions deepening and spreading to a wider canvas.

The war on terrorism after September 11 has brought a deepening of the US involvement in the central Asian region. This projection of American power into the centre of the Eurasian land mass has no historical precedent. With central Asian nations relying heavily on the US, its military presence there has been legitimised.

Putin is a president who has risen with the help of the Russian political establishment and yet is expected to knock down the power structure that elected him. He has inducted reformist economists even while continuing with some of the Yeltsin coterie.

Russia ended with the appointment of Yevgeny Primakov as prime minister on September 11. The political deadlock compounded by the collapse of the financial system was driving the country to ruin. At one stage analysts worried about possible unrest on a scale seen in Albania and Indonesia. It weakened Boris Yeltsin, the president, who was forced to make unprecedented concessions to the communist- dominated Duma, including withdrawing his first choice for premier, former prime minister Victor Chernomyrdin. The new prime minister now faces the toughest task of his life pulling Russia out of a deep economic crisis. This very mission has doomed Russia's last two prime ministers. He also has to forge political co-operation to tackle Russia's economic fiasco. Unless he can hold the political strings together, implementation of economic recovery programmes will not be easy. Although a competent administrator he has no formal business training and lacks experience in the private sector of a market economy. His success will therefore depend heavily on the team that is entrusted with economic policy. If his career graph is any indication then one can depend on him to show results as he is very experienced and his expertise lies in his diplomacy; besides he is an old fox in the political arena.