Many of the world's up-and-coming new powers neither embrace nor aspire to the Western model of liberal democracy. This makes the idea of an "alliance of democracies" a nonstarter. The new powers include authoritarian regimes and they demand a role in global governance. Russia is ready to cooperate, if the West is ready to take it seriously.

Robert Scheer How can Obama improve US relations with Russia if some of his closest advisors are unrepentant hawks from the cold war era?

The EU signaled Monday its readiness to sit down with Russia again to hammer out a partnership treaty. The decision remains a controversial one, but it is important for Brussels to have a structured relationship with Moscow, say commentators.

The EU's executive body, the European Commission, called on European states to unfreeze talks with Russia -- three months after the war in Georgia, and just as Moscow threatened to install new missiles on the Baltic Sea. Eastern member states want a harder line.

Barack Obama had hardly been confirmed as the winner in the US presidential election before the first provocation arrived -- Russia's announcement of new missile deployment plans. It is clear that the new president will have little time to hone his skills as a global politician.

Russia wasted no time in demonstrating to America's new president-elect that he was going to play hardball. Indeed, US-Russian relations may not improve at all with Obama at the helm.

Just a few hours after Barack Obama was elected US president, Moscow hit out at Washington's "selfish" foreign policy on Wednesday. In his first address to the nation, President Medvedev said Russia plans to install short-range missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave in Eastern Europe.

It has been three months since Russia withdrew from Georgia, but not everyone is happy with the EU's stance toward Moscow. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves warns about EU passivity in its relations with Russia.

While it was amusing to read about President Bush’s affinity for Khinkali (Questions for Mikheil Saakashvili, Oct.19), there were many other questions that one could ask the man who brought the U.S. and Russia the closest they’ve been to direct confrontation since the Cuban missile crisis. Perhaps Deborah Solomon could have asked some of the still-unanswered questions posed by the Georgian opposition: Why did Tbilisi not know that Russia was preparing to intervene militarily and thus take actions to protect the Georgian people?

Dutch Architect Rem Koolhaas likes to think in S, M and L, but especially in XL. And that pretty much describes his next project -- a think tank to help overhaul the European Union. In an interview, he discusses the need for a stronger EU role in the world and why we need to stop acting superior when it comes to Russia and China.