Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties (open access)

Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties

Report that discusses the issues surrounding whether or not the U.S. should grant Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) following its accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Date: June 15, 2012
Creator: Cooper, William H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties (open access)

Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties

The change in Russia's trade status will require legislation to lift the restrictions of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 as they apply to Russia, which includes the “freedom-of-emigration” requirements of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. The process for Russia's accession has been completed. As a result, Members of the 112th Congress confront the issue of whether to grant Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR).
Date: January 30, 2012
Creator: Cooper, William H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties (open access)

Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) Status for Russia and U.S.-Russian Economic Ties

This report discusses the issues surrounding whether or not the U.S. should grant Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) following its accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The change in Russia's trade status will require legislation to lift the restrictions of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 as they apply to Russia, which includes the "freedom-of-emigration" requirements of the Jackson-Vanik amendment.
Date: June 13, 2012
Creator: Cooper, William H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russia's Accession to the WTO and Its Implications for the United States (open access)

Russia's Accession to the WTO and Its Implications for the United States

Russia has been invited to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) by July 23, 2012. This report looks at policy issues for Congress, and concerns for the US regarding conditions ensuring that Russia fulfills its obligations and provides meaningful trade and investment opportunities for U.S. firms.
Date: January 30, 2012
Creator: Cooper, William H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russia's Accession to the WTO and Its Implications for the United States (open access)

Russia's Accession to the WTO and Its Implications for the United States

Russia has been invited to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) by July 23, 2012. This report looks at policy issues for Congress, and concerns for the US regarding conditions ensuring that Russia fulfills its obligations and provides meaningful trade and investment opportunities for U.S. firms.
Date: June 13, 2012
Creator: Cooper, William H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings in Vladivostok, Russia: A Preview (open access)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings in Vladivostok, Russia: A Preview

Russia will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC) week-long series of senior-level meetings in Vladivostok on September 2-9, 2012. The main event for the week will be the 20th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting to be held September 8-9, 2012. This report looks at the main points of this meeting as they relate to the U.S.
Date: August 16, 2012
Creator: Martin, Michael F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests (open access)

Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé, Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from progress toward democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.
Date: February 10, 2012
Creator: Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests (open access)

Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé, Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from progress toward democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.
Date: June 7, 2012
Creator: Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests (open access)

Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé, Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.
Date: September 19, 2012
Creator: Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russia's March 2012 Presidential Election: Outcome and Implications (open access)

Russia's March 2012 Presidential Election: Outcome and Implications

Challenges to Russia's democratic development have long been of concern to Congress as it has considered the course of U.S.-Russia cooperation. Some in Congress have criticized the conduct of the election, but have endorsed continued engagement, while others have called for stepping back and reevaluating the Obama Administration's engagement policy which assists in solving mutual strategic concerns. Congress may consider the implications of another Putin presidency, lagging democratization, and human rights abuses in Russia as it debates possible future foreign assistance and trade legislation and other aspects of U.S.-Russia relations.
Date: March 14, 2012
Creator: Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification (open access)

Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification

This report focuses on potential approaches that Europe might employ to diversify its sources of natural gas supply, and Russia's role, as well as identifying some of the issues hindering efforts to develop alternative suppliers of natural gas. The report assesses the potential suppliers of natural gas to Europe and the short- to medium-term hurdles needed to be overcome for those suppliers to be credible, long-term providers of natural gas to Europe. The report looks at North Africa and Central Asia as possible sources of future energy supply.
Date: March 13, 2012
Creator: Ratner, Michael; Belkin, Paul; Nichol, Jim & Woehrel, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russia 2012 Human Rights Report (open access)

Russia 2012 Human Rights Report

This report outlines the human rights problems identified by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for Russia.
Date: 2012
Creator: United States. Department of State. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the Former Soviet Union (open access)

Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the Former Soviet Union

Congress passed the Nunn-Lugar amendment, authorizing U.S. threat reduction assistance to the former Soviet Union, in November 1991, after a failed coup in Moscow and the disintegration of the Soviet Union raised concerns about the safety and security of Soviet nuclear weapons. It has evolved from an emergency response to impending chaos in the Soviet Union, to a more comprehensive threat reduction and nonproliferation effort, to a broader program seeking to keep nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons from leaking out of the former Soviet Union and into the hands of rogue nations or terrorist groups, to a global program to address the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Analysts have debated numerous issues related to U.S. nonproliferation and threat reduction assistance. These include questions about the coordination of and priority given to these programs in the U.S. government, questions about Russia's willingness to provide the United States with access to its weapons facilities, questions about the President's ability to waive certification requirements so that the programs can go forward, and questions about the need to expand the efforts into a global program that receives funding from numerous nations and possibly extends assistance to others outside the former Soviet Union.
Date: March 6, 2012
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons (open access)

Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons

During the Senate debate on the new U.S.-Russian Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in 2010, many Senators raised questions about Russian nonstrategic nuclear weapons and noted their absence from the treaty limits. The United States and Russia have not included limits on these weapons in past arms control agreements. Nevertheless, Congress may press the Administration to seek solutions to the potential risks presented by these weapons in the future. This report looks at issues for Congress to consider regarding US weapons policy in light of the START agreement.
Date: February 14, 2012
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library