http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview.html RT : Interview en RT 521134 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-11-08/521134.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:31:00 +0300 The fall of the Berlin Wall was the beginning of the end for the German Democratic Republic, as it showed that its government couldn’t run the country without the Wall, believes a former West German Foreign Minister. Both Hans-Dietrich Genscher and his Soviet counterpart at the time, Eduard Shevardnadze, who spoke exclusively to RT, are convinced that the process was inevitable. “It was initiated by the people and it was impossible to stop it,” said Hans-Dietrich Genscher. Eduard Shevardnadze recalls that there was a lot of opposition in the Soviet Union to the demolition of the Wall. “But when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, a new policy, a new political mentality started to form in the USSR – and that became a turning point,” Shevardnadze said. 520306 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-11-06/520306.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0300 On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, RT's Sophie Shevardnadze caught up with Lotha de Mazziere - the last Prime Minister of East Germany. Mr. Mazziere gave us his take on the reasons behind the historic events of 1989. RT: Lothar de Maiziere, thank you very much for being with us today. How important is for you what happened 20 years ago today in Berlin? Lotha de Mazziere: In retrospect, the 9th of November was, as I see it, the end of the 20th century, the end of the cold war, the “bloc” confrontation, and although the extent of the impact was not then known, at least it was the day on which the German process of reunification began. RT: It's often said, that the Berlin wall came down because Soviet Union didn't have enough money to go on with the Cold War, is that the only reason? LM: No, I think that the people of Germany no longer wanted to live in such a system, as they were leaving the country in their thousands, and they were constantly protesting, plus they told the GDR government, “You are not the people, we are the people”… RT: How hard was for East Germans to accept the fact that they were a part of bigger Germany? LM: I think that the vast majority of the East Germans wanted this reunification – and at the demonstrations they were shouting, “We are one nation”, so there were few that didn't want it, but there were many East Germans who couldn’t comprehend how difficult the process would be, in terms of the economic transformation. You have to understand that an entire nation had to, within a short period of time, fully grasp a new political system, a new economic system, a new legal system and a new education system, and this was of course a very difficult affair. RT: Now 20 years on, do you think that the German people are psychologically freed from the block mentality, in other words, wall in their heads? LM: The division of Germany took more than 40 years, the equivalent of 2 generations, and I think that this coalescence will take just as long. There is a wonderful story in the Bible, where Moses was freeing his people from Egyptian slavery and leading them home through the desert, when after 20 years half of the people wanted to turn back, saying it was better back then, when they had something to eat and a place to live. It will be a similar situation with us – we will need some time. RT: Sir, how do think the fall of the Berlin wall influenced the collapse of the Soviet Union? LM: At least it meant the end of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe – if you can recall, in the few weeks after the fall of the wall, similar circumstances in Czechoslovakia and Hungary occurred, and just before Christmas came the fall of Ceausescu, who was brutally gunned down in Romania – this was of course expected, but that the fall of the wall would also signal the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union was not foreseeable at that time. And in the following year it was clear that the Soviet Union was no longer able to organize trade relations as they did before, the RGB (Rochlitz Geringswalde Burgstädt) trade broke down, and with it a disengagement, in economic terms, from the then leading power. You will recall, that in December Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down as foreign minister and in the following summer there was the coup against Gorbachev and this was ultimately the end. The attempt to create a new Russian or Soviet Federation failed, but I also believe that this was the end of Stalin’s nationality politics, which was the cause of the inner conflicts in the Soviet Union. RT: Do you think the collapse of the Soviet Union happened too quickly, should it have been done differently? LM: In Germany we say that history comes from happening, not from doing. I believe that such revolutionary movements are the expression of too long a suppression of evolution. The process should have begun much earlier – what is suppressed for so long can suddenly burst – and things like democracy and the autonomy of the federal states were not thought about enough. RT: Now that we've lived past 20 years with the unified Germany and Russia without communism, how do you see the geopolitics of the world from now on, let's say in the next 10 years? LM: Firstly, I should say that I am not a prophet. If I was, I’m sure I would be doing things differently. First of all, I think that in the next 10 years the relationship between Germany and Russia will become more stable. The German and Russian governments have agreed on a modernization partnership. Germany wants to help Russia on the way to building new industries, in the area of health, but also state structure improvement – I am pretty well informed on this matter, as I am leading the talks on this in St. Petersburg, I am the German Speaker for the St. Petersburg dialogue. I think that these two relationships will become closer, ultimately reaching the consensus that Germany needs Russia as much as Russia needs Germany. On a global political level, I believe the focus will be on the Asian countries’ development. We are seeing a dramatic escalation in China’s economy – the Chinese economy is one of the only economies which is not affected much by the current downfall – I think we as Europeans, and by this I include Russia, will have to hold ourselves together if we want to weather and compete with the Asian challenge. 518818 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-29/518818.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:31:00 +0300 Russia and the US hope a new deal to reduce nuclear stockpiles will be agreed upon by December. Former US ambassador to West Germany Richard Burt discussed the new treaty with RT. The new agreement is a key part the two nations’ attempts to rebuild their international relations. According to Burt, who was a major player in hammering out the current treaty, Russia and the US should be able to complete negotiations by December: “I do not have any special information,” he said, “but all the signs are that I think the two sides should be able to do it by the December deadline. If they don’t meet the deadline, they will probably have an agreement by early January.” The treaty will be, Burt said, an innovation on agreements of the past: “It will have some reductions from existing deployments, but it will be very much along the lines of the treaty that I worked on in the early 1990s,” he pointed out. “It will limit warheads that are deployed on missiles that can be delivered by bombers, and it will leave both sides somewhere in the area of maybe 1650 warheads apiece,” he added. 517900 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-25/517900.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:31:00 +0300 The name of the Nord-Ost musical on the Moscow stage became a synonym for tragedy and horror. It’s been seven years since a terrorist attack on a Moscow theater claimed the lives of 130 people. On October 23, 2002 terrorists burst into the theater right in the middle of the performance. The hostages spent three days there before being released by Special Forces. One of the survivors has shared her experiences with Sophie Shevardnadze. RT: Hello, Olga. Thank you very much for being with us. Olga is actually one of our RT members. She works with us, and she agreed to share with us some of her thoughts and experiences - quite unfortunate experiences - that she had seven years ago at Nord-Ost. Olya, thanks a lot for agreeing to talk to us. Now seven years have passed and are you able to forget, or maybe make peace with, what happened?Olga Protas: I try not to remember that experience that happened to me seven years ago. But I think after such experience people either have fear inside them or it makes them stronger. And I hope that that type of experience, I hope that made me stronger. RT: When you first entered the theater, did anything seem strange at all? OP: I remember after the first part of the performance there was a short break. And during that short break one of my friends wanted to leave the theater. She had a nervous breakdown. She started to cry and she kept asking teachers to let her go home. And that I found really strange. Probably she got a feeling that something’s gonna be wrong. RT: Did she go home? OP: Yes, she went home. And we felt jealous after that. We didn't use this chance. RT: What was your reaction when the terrorists first came. Did you understand what was going on? Olga Protas OP: But we thought it's just part of the show. Because when it happened by that time on the stage there was group of actors wearing soldier uniform almost similar to the one the terrorists wore. So when the terrorists burst into the theater we thought it's just part of the show. We couldn't believe it's real. We thought it's just a show. RT: Do you remember chronologically? Can you describe what you saw? OP: Actors were dancing. And then we heard several shots somewhere backstage. And then the music stopped and we saw one man wearing that uniform with a mask and a gun. He started to shout something. Then he made several shots to the roof and straight after that the others started bursting to the theater. And I remember one of the terrorists hit one of my friends with a gun. RT: Right away? When they came in? OP: Yeah. Just to show that they are serious. That it's not a joke. RT: Did any of the terrorists make contact with you or say something to you? OP: I had a chance to speak with Musa Baraev. When I was crying, when I had a nervous breakdown he walked, he passed me and he stopped. And he asked me "Hey girl why are you crying? Don't worry, you are not gonna die. We came here to die. So you will survive. But we will die." And we had a chance to speak with suicide bomber women.RT: What did they look like? I mean being a woman and a suicide bomber. Did they seem like they have more sympathy for women and children who were in that theater? OP: I would say that they were more cruel comparable to men. Men were really calm with us and talked to us but women they were more aggressive - they shout at us, they played with their guns showing if they are gonna kill us right now. So they were more cruel. But they told us about their life before they became terrorists. They told they lost all their family. They lost all their brothers, fathers and they have nothing to live for right now. RT: So they were mainly people who have no children? OP: Yeah. Most of all had no family at all. RT: Were you guys allowed to talk to each other inside the theater? OP: For the first time we were not allowed to talk or to use a toilet when we need. But after five or six hours we were allowed to use the restroom. If we wanted to drink we could ask them and they brought us a bottle of water. RT: What did their faces look like - worried, calm? OP: Most of the time they were calm. And seem to be outgoing, ready to communicate with us. But I remember one day when one of the main terrorists moved to the stage and that was straight after he understood from a news channel that the government is still doing nothing of what they want. So he said that right now he is gonna choose any ten person among the hostages and he is gonna kill them. Just on the stage. RT: How long were you there? Till the very end? Because it did last for three days. OP: Yeah, I've been there all three days. But I remember when I first came to restroom I came to the window and I was thinking - should I stay, should I go? RT: You thought of escaping? OP: Yeah, I thought of escaping. And probably I spent there so [much] time thinking what should I do that one of the suicide bomber women she came to the restroom and started to shout at me using her gun and... RT: Saying what? OP: Saying why are you still staying here so long. Move to entire theater. Move to your chair. RT: But did some people who tried to escape get killed? OP: I know that several people escaped, especially people who were actors, some of them. And I know that one woman who came to the theater she was drunk. She was killed. RT: Because she was drunk? OP: No, because she came to the terrorists and kept calling [them] bad words, asked them to release all the people. RT: How did this psychological state of your mind change during these three days? OP: For the first days I had fear. I didn't want to die and I had questions coming to my head why it happened with me, I am so young. But I remember the third day of staying there. I lost belief that I could survive. I started thinking that I am gonna die anyway - either they shoot me, either the bomb will detonate. So I lost all the feeling I could see my family again. And I wrote down my phone number and address on my body in case parents want to find me... some piece of my body. And that will help them to realize who I am. To realize that, for example, that's my hand or my leg. RT: So the fear was gone at the third day? OP: Yeah RT: You made peace with that you are gonna die? OP: Yeah, almost everybody around me was sure that we gonna die. It was so difficult to stay there for three days. It was… We were so exhausted that we had no idea about how we are gonna survive. RT: How do you come to that state of mind when you know you are going to die and you are not panicking? OP: There was panic during the first and second day but after... it didn’t matter, we just wanted to finish that story and it didn't matter for us - who will win in such a situation. We just wanted that it finished somehow. RT: Many criticize the way the operation to free the hostages was conducted. More the 130 hostages died due to the gas that was used. Do you think the terrorists could have spared the last of those people or were they ready to blow up the whole theater with all the people in it? OP: They seemed to be ready to blow out everybody. So we didn't... They seemed to be really serious with that. RT: Do you remember anything how were the terrorists killed and the hostages were released or did the gas knock you out right away? OP: I woke up when the storm operation started. It was very hard to breathe because of the gas. And I could see green cloud coming from the roof to the ground. One of my teachers didn't sleep as well. RT: So you were sleeping? OP: I was sleeping before... RT: Just sleeping? OP: Just sleeping, yeah. RT: And then – ok? OP: And then I woke up because of that strong gas, it was really impossible to breathe. And my teacher had napkins close to her nose so she gave several of them to me so I won't die because of that gas. And I brought some of them to the nearest fiends and then I don't remember anything. I was asleep. RT: When did you wake up afterwards? OP: The second time I woke up in the hospital. When it was finished. I woke up next morning. RT: What was it like - waking up in the hospital? OP: I didn't feel happiness. I was...Probably I was so tired after these three days so I didn't feel any emotions. I was just exhausted of having emotions at all. Yes, I saw them on TV and I started to cry, I could not stop myself. They became kind of heroes for us. RT: You were crying for the people who were gonna kill you? OP: Yeah, it's very strange. It's very strange and my parents spent much time with me telling that it's not the right way how I should think about it, about this situation. RT: How do you feel like it has changed your life? OP: I didn't want to feel fear at all. And almost like two or three months later I decided to watch this particular musical again. I came back to the Nord-Ost musical just to stop this fear in my life. So I watched it for the second time. I think such an experience… maybe you start to appreciate your life more maybe you have a more philosophical way of thinking. But I'm happy I'm alive. RT: Thank you very much for sharing this experience with us. 517600 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-22/517600.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:31:00 +0300 The BRIC countries will soon become a significant economic and political force, believes India’s Foreign Minister. He says this will lead to considerable reorganization of international multi-lateral institutions. During his visit to Moscow, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna told RT that although the organization is currently confined to four countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – it has huge potential and many more will join the BRIC. And the alliance is open for dialogue and cooperation: “These four countries are not arranged against any other countries or any other group of countries. It is not even an effort to flex muscles. We are trying to learn from each other,” the Indian Foreign Minister said. 516967 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-21/516967.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:31:00 +0300 RT: Aleksandr Emelianenko, thank you very much for being with us today. You are many times the champion of Russia, Europe, and the world in combat sambo. Why do you think you are better than the others? Aleksandr Emelianenko: Because...I don’t know…I live, I want to do sports; I like to try new things in sports, something I haven’t tried before. And combat is what I’m best at. I think it’s a wrong approach not to compete, say, in boxing, if you’re great at boxing. One should, as long as there is a possibility, try to embrace as much as possible. RT: Did you know you wanted to be a combat fighter when you were a child? AE: Oh, got it. Yes, since I was I child. We, the boys, started talking about what we’d want to be when we grow up. So boys would say, an astronaut, a jet pilot, a policeman, and I always said I’ll be an athlete. And so it happened, my childhood dream came true, I got to be a professional athlete. RT: What is your current world rating? AE: Well, I’m in the world’s top ten. RT: Talking about Golden Boy Promotions’ offer to you to start a boxing pro career which you’ve accepted, what do you think it’ll give to you, becoming a boxing pro? And does this mean you will not take part in other mixed competitions? AE: No, I’ll keep competing in combat sambo, in mixed fights, I’ll just be boxing alongside. It’ll just expand my range, that’s it. I’ll be in greater demand, just busier. RT: Ok, but if you have long since wanted to be a boxer why did you start as a sambo combat fighter? AE: Sambo? Because I was introduced to sambo by my elder brother, I followed his footsteps. He used to take me with him to gym and his sports classes. First, I just watched them work out and fight, the elder boys… RT: Your elder brother- you mean Fyodor? AE: Yes, Fyodor. And while other kids played with toys, little cars and so on, I played with weights and gym equipment. RT: The Klitschkos have made it their principle that they would never fight each other. Would you fight your brother? AE: No, we will never fight each other. It happened earlier that we both got into the same finals in combat sambo tournaments, and then I had to approach the organizers and tell them that we are not going to fight each other. They asked us really hard, and so we did it but we didn’t fight for real, we just made a show, we showed our best routines. Many people who saw it still wonder whether it was a real or a fake fight. And Fyodor was always the winner. In combat sambo I’ve been defeated only three times, and all three were against Fyodor. (laughs) RT: And who is really stronger, you or Fyodor? AE: In reality? Of course Fyodor is stronger. RT: Can you be friends with the athlete you fight? AE: Of course I can. We are friends with all of the athletes, and after… it’s sports, there’s nothing personal. RT: So an athlete who defeats you doesn’t make you hate him. You don’t feel like you’d want to take revenge on him? AE: That’s what makes all the difference in the professional sports, as opposed to amateur. You can’t get emotional in a pro fight. You have to have a clear head and just do what you’ve learnt to do. RT: Does it ever happen that you feel sorry for the guy you’re fighting? AE: No, it doesn’t. It’s sports, it’s not a war or a street fight. In sports, it’s the referees’ job to feel sorry for the athlete. RT: Sambo, or the art of self-defense. People call it fighting without rules. But obviously there are rules there as well. But for a layman who doesn’t know anything about it this kind of sport may look like ultimate fighting. What things are categorically forbidden in sambo fighting? AE: Ultimate fighting or fighting without rules. This name was actually invented in Russia. In fact, it’s called mixed martial arts. That allows a wide variety of fighting techniques. There are rules and restrictions in mixed martial arts. You cannot strike your rival below the belt. You cannot beat him if he lies on the floor. It’s forbidden to hit your opponent on the back of the head. I think that this is the most universal and noble contemporary sport. RT: Are there any mean methods and techniques? AE: Maybe there are mean tricks. But I don’t know them and I’ve never thought of learning them. RT: How many crucial points are there in a human body by hitting which you can actually kill a person? AE: Very many. I know that there’ve been cases in boxing when professional boxers died upon receiving a gloved blow in the head. And when a well-trained professional boxer delivers the same kind of blow on the head of an untrained person, this, I think, is going to be lethal without searching for any kind of lethal points. RT: But sambo is also a very traumatic sport. You yourself must have had a lot of physical traumas? AE: Yes, I’ve had a lot of them. During a fight? Yes, of course. I don’t want to get injured on purpose. But during one of my combats in Japan I broke my arm in two places as I was delivering a series of blows to my opponent. RT: So you broke it yourself? AE: Yes, I was hitting the opponent feverishly, I just couldn’t stop. The opponent was still standing on his feet under my blows. It so happened, that I struck him (may be with the first or the last blow) in the forehead and broke my arm. RT: How do you feel before getting in the ring? AE: It’s just a feeling of anticipation. Because I am a heavyweight and a top-ranked athlete whom everybody wants to see, organizers always want me to appear in the final stage of the competitions. I feel nothing. I am just looking forward to the fight. RT: Are you nervous or frightened? Do you feel anything like that? Or are you absolutely sure that you are going to win? AE: Of course. I don’t go into the ring to lose. I go there only to win, to beat and defeat my rival. RT: Do you have any psychological training ahead of every combat? Do you stand in front of a mirror telling yourself: “You are the best, you are the best and you will win!” AE: No, there’s no such thing as special psychological training. I train very well during my training sessions psychologically, physically and functionally. You cannot spare yourself, you should train with devotion; you should go all out in a gym and do what your coach teaches you to do. Naturally, you should also use your gray matter. RT: What do you think about while you are in the ring? Are there moments when you distract your attention from the combat and think about anything else? AE: No, I don’t have such moments. I simply fix my mind on my rival, the judge and my corner. But I can hear the spectators and their reaction. I stay cool during the fight in order not to get too excited and not to break down. I am not overwhelmed by emotions. RT: What do you think is decisive for victory? Is it the tactics of fighting or physical strength? AE: The two things are complementary. Everything goes together here: your discipline of excellence, your desire, your endurance, physical strength and functional training as well as technical characteristics. A combination of all these factors turns an athlete into the champion – the winner. RT: And how do you recuperate after a combat? AE: I spend time with my family and with my children. Whenever I have a chance, I go home. RT: A lot of stuff is written about you and your brothers in the Internet. I don’t think that all the information there is true, but I’ve read several times that when they were small, they ate only potatoes. Is it true? AE: Yes, it’s true. We came from a poor family. There were four children in our family. So we ate only potatoes. At one time I shared a jacket with my brother. RT: They also write that you once went to hunt a bear with a knife. Is it true? AE: Yes. RT: Did you kill it? AE: Yes. RT: Did you need more adrenaline? You haven’t got enough of it in your blood? AE: I have enough of everything. I did that for fun. RT: How did it occur to you to go to hunt a bear? AE: I saw that on TV. RT: How large was your knife? Can you show it? AE: I don’t know, it was big enough to cut a bear and stab it under its heart. But that was not a sword. RT: So, did you see a bear and just kill him with this knife? AE: Yes, I also used a long stick, which you put to a bear’s neck when the animal is already lying on its back with the four paws up and is trying to get up again. RT: Oh, my God! What did you do with that bear after that? Did you eat the bear’s meat? AE: Yes, we ate it. RT: Let’s talk about your tattoos now. Do you have any favorite tattoo which means to you more than all the other tattoos? AE: No, tattoos are my hobby. Whenever I see a good drawing, I go to my friends who can professionally apply this drawing to my body. When I have free time, I also go to them and together we invent a new tattoo. RT: All the tattoos which I saw in the Internet are related to prison life. Why is it so? Or am I wrong? AE: I think it’s just your delusion. RT: Really? I also know that you often visit penal colonies for under age children. AE: I can’t say that I go there too often. I do it periodically. RT: What do you do there? AE: I talk to them. I try to return to normal life those young guys who have taken a false step in life and accidentally found themselves behind the prison gates. I want to show them that there’s another side of this life. I also go to children’s homes. My wife and I have a tradition that after each duel I spend half of my earnings on helping children’s homes. We get in touch with them and ask them what they need and buy and bring them things which they mention in a list. RT: What’s your greatest achievement in life do you think? AE: I think it hasn’t come yet. 516721 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-20/516721.html Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:31:00 +0300 With the Hadron Collider scheduled to be operational soon, scientists believe that the secrets of the universe will soon be revealed. RT's Sophie Shevardnadze spoke to the Director General of CERN, Professor Rolf-Dieter Heaur about his expectations as the Collider prepares to go back online after last year's misfire, which caused the station to be shut down for repairs. The problems have been solved, he says, and major discoveries and explanations for the simplest of particles that make up our universe lie ahead. 516739 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-19/516739.html Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:31:00 +0300 Russia was and still is a massive energy provider, but there is a problem of making it a more competitive country, says Marshall Goldman, an analyst on the economy of the former Soviet Union and Russia. Russia was and still is an energy power, but there is a problem of making it a more competitive country. Natural energy resources is an easy way out but “the problem is that the more you sell oil and gas, then the more valuable the rouble is and the more valuable the rouble is to other currencies – the more difficult it is to manufacture goods that are competitive.” “Russia’s problem with energy is that it cannot decide to use its energy as an economic tool or as a political tool. It begins to use politics that destroys the economic ability to have influence.” “Russia is so sophisticated when it comes to military equipment, but so far it has not been able to translate some of that to the civilian sector. There is a need for innovations to come from the bottom up.” “One of Russia’s biggest losses was the brainpower that emigrated… They brought enormous creative power to the US. [Russia’s] loss was [America’s] enormous gain.” “Russia has to encourage new entrepreneurs to give people the sense of being independent and to do so it needs sources of funding and institutions that facilitate that. Now the starting of a new business is too centralized, bureaucratic and corrupt.” “Many people in the West have a sort of peasant mentality about Russia and do not recognize it as a civilized country, despite the good Russia did over the years.” “I think Putin is good for Russia. I would not want him to be the president of the US, but I think Russians need somebody whom, they think, is strong – and in some sense Russia is lucky to have a leader like this.” 514303 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-10-08/514303.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:31:00 +0300 Amid preparations for the Russian president’s visit to Belgrade, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic summed up Russo-Serbian relations for RT. Both Kosovo and EU membership are on Serbia's list of priorities. But according to Jeremic, Belgrade is not going to sacrifice its stance on Kosovo's independence in exchange for a speedy accession to the European Union. 512068 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-30/512068.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:38:00 +0300 The Georgian army which took part in the August 2008 conflict in South Ossetia was created, trained and supplied by Americans, says professor and author Stephen Cohen. “I hope Barack Obama learned from the Georgian war that it is dangerous and it has to stop, but he is being given different advice. It is important to understand the struggle. Some people were telling Obama: ‘Look how the Russians invaded Georgia, how bad and dangerous they are. We have to get NATO to Ukraine and Georgia right away.’ Never forget that there was a powerful, powerful lobby in Washington to put NATO in Ukraine and Georgia – and that lobby has to be defeated,” Stephen Cohen says. In an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze Stephen Cohen and Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, also touched upon the issues of NATO eastward expansion, America’s position on anti-missile defence shield in Eastern Europe and the difference between the Russian and American stance on Iran. Washington can’t say to Moscow “let’s get tough with Iran,” Stephen Cohen says, because Russia has a geopolitical situation that America doesn’t have. “There are 20 to 25 million Muslim citizens in Russia and Iran has never done anything to agitate Russian Muslims against the Russian government,” Stephen Cohen adds. “Russia is being encircled by NATO bases and Iran is one country that is not a candidate for NATO membership – but getting this through to Washington is almost impossible.” 511684 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-29/511684.html Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:31:00 +0300 American society and businesses are adapting very well in this new world – the question is whether the American state is ready for change, says American journalist, author and CNN programme host Fareed Zakaria. At the same time, Fareed Zakaria believes that the US has suffered from not having had a real adversary in the last 10 or 15 years. After the Soviet Union collapsed, America was dominant and did not have to worry about anybody else – and no one does well if they have no competition, Zakaria says. Russian-US relations are now in focus in Washington with a new body set up to improve cooperation between US Congress and Russia's lower house of parliament – the Duma. Speaking to RT's Sophie Shevardnadze, Fareed Zakaria also touched upon challenges that Russia currently faces, saying they are mainly of two kinds – one being the significant problems with radical Islam in Russia’s south and the other connected with the migration of Chinese coming into the Russian Far East. 511528 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-23/511528.html Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:11:00 +0300 The gold of the Communist Party is a myth, says the ex-chairman of the Russian and USSR Central Bank, Viktor Gerashchenko. “This is a far-fetched thing – the gold reserves of the party. The party didn’t have any gold. The party had huge incomes from membership fees, and it was only in rubles.” The Communist Party had access to the foreign currency deposit run by the Ministry of Finance – which meant that the party could purchase a certain amount of foreign currency per year. The allowed amount was not very much – 10 to 15 million dollars. These funds were usually used to provide help to other communist parties, especially in countries where they experienced problems and pressure from the governing regime, in particular to fund their print media,” he told RT. 511525 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-21/511525.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:00 +0300 Celebrated futurist Alvin Toffler has forecasted “death and bankruptcy” to the existing organizational institutes. Toffler elaborated on this and other predictions on where society is heading to RT. 509236 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-17/509236.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:30:00 +0300 Russia and the EU should remain close allies. They share a common history and have similar territorial structures, says the former head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, who spoke to RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze during his visit to Moscow. 511522 http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Programmes/Interview/2009-09-14/511522.html Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:59:00 +0300 Senior Research Scholar at Yale University Immanuel Wallerstein believes that the real economic crisis is still up ahead. According to Wallerstein, last year’s collapse was its minor version.