Russia and the US

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in a New Year's message to U.S. President Barack Obama that Moscow is looking for equality in bilateral relations next year.

The Kremlin on Wednesday published several dozen New Year's messages addressed to heads of states and international organizations such as the Olympic Committee and FIFA.

Putin reminded Obama of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II and said that it should serve as a reminder of "the responsibility that Russia and the United States bear for maintaining peace and international stability." Moscow is anxious for the relations to advance but only as long as there is "equality and mutual respect."

Conspicuously absent from the list of the recipients of New Year's messages was Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Russian experts note that 2014 saw a level of international tension not witnessed for a long time. The main outcome, in the opinion of most experts, is the unprecedented deterioration in ties between Russia and the West, particularly U.S.-Russian relations. This changing relationship, they say, could lead to a paradigm shift for the post-Cold War order.

With that in mind, Russian analysts in December contemplated the consequences for Russia of renewed ties between Washington and Havana, as well as the ever-present threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Greater Syria (ISIS, also known as the Islamic State or IS).

This new geopolitical reality, according to Russian analysts, is giving rise to a global shift. “A new Cold War” was perhaps the most popular refrain of the year. At the same time, a whole host of experts stressed that the crisis in relations with the West is causing Russia to pivot eastwards.

For instance, Ivan Safranchuk of MGIMO writes that, “The talk today is of revising the world order.” His MGIMO colleague Maria Dubovikova agrees and points out that another salient event of the year was the unexpected and frightening rise of ISIS.

“This year, the international community has borne witness to the complete failure of the old mechanisms of global governance,” she said. “A worrying trend this year has been the rise of ISIS, which marks a leap in the evolution of extremism. It’s no longer about simple subversive and terrorist activities.”