Reset

The Obama administration has moved to assert America’s Asia policy by vigorously engaging Southeast Asian nations concerned about China’s recent posture.

Jamie Kirchick, writing in the Wall Street Journal, examines Russia's ongoing support for Iran:

When Barack Obama campaigned for president in 2008, he promised to “cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.” The word “unproven,” folks worried, could be used against every defense system that hasn’t intercepted a missile in combat.

The Associated Press reports that, according to Iranian state TV, the mullahs have "stepped up" nuclear operations "after years of delay."

The other worrisome news? The relationship between the Iranians and Russians. The AP reports: 

Senior Iranian and Russian officials attended celebrations Monday for the official launch of the 1000-megawatt Bushehr plant in southern Iran.

Following this write up, Joshua Foust seems to have regained an interest in the reports that Russia is responsible for bombing the American embassy in Georgia.

Eli Lake has a pretty big scoop today on Russian espionage in Georgia: A bomb targeting the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi has been linked, by Georgian intelligence, to a series of bombings around the country over the last 12 months that all lead back to Russia's GRU.

A year ago President Obama treated Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to lunch at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia.

In a little noticed letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, dated May 9, three House members and four senators wrote, “As strong supporters of the Baltic States in Congress, we were troubled to learn that Russia intends to build a nuclear power plant within 50 kilometers of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. This is in addition to the nuclear plant Russia is already building in Kaliningrad, only 23 kilometers from the Lithuanian border. While we support the use of nuclear energy, when done in full compliance with IAEA Safeguards, it appears Russia’s motivation is not to produce electricity but to maintain its stranglehold on energy supplies to Europe.”

Earlier today, Republican Rep. Peter Roskam, deputy whip in the House, put out a statement signaling his support for the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act.

Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport had been planning to provide an initial public offering to investors this week, allowing folks from around the world to buy shares in the currently private company that operates the facility. Suddenly, over Memorial Day weekend and in the middle of the night, Domodedovo sent out a statement saying that it had canceled its plans and pulled the IPO. Why, and why so suddenly?

Eli Lake reports in today's Washington Times: 

Russia waged a covert war against Georgia that included missile attacks, arms shipments to anti-government rebels and car bombings since 2004, a newly disclosed U.S. Embassy cable says.

The Obama administration has bent over backward in its attempt to reset relations with Russia. The result?