On March 30th 1867 the Russian Empire sold its remaining territories in North America to the United States. Exactly 150 years ago Russians had decided to leave the American soil for good and the story of "Russian America" ended. While the “Alaska Purchase” caused a lot of controversies on both sides back in the 19th century, it was largely forgotten during the Cold War, and resurfaces only occasionally, usually in rather curious contexts.

This piece originally appeared in Issue 2/2017 of New Eastern Europe. Subscribe now.

Casting aside a longstanding tradition of American exceptionalism, Trump is remaking the United States into a more consumer-friendly version of autocratic Russia. This is alarming and deeply demoralising. But it could also suggest that the American and Russian societies now simply share the same underlying plight.

President Donald Trump’s NATO policy is confusing. Regardless of the administration’s evolving National Security Strategy, United States’ role in Europe is in transition. Trump’s March 17th meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated his America First emphasis at home, and an insistence that other NATO members “pay their fair share” abroad. A picture a "Perfect Storm" of Russian military resurgence, European Union instability skating on thin politico-economic ice and a 20 trillion dollars US cold front. This Trans-Atlantic ice age is capable of putting the freeze on any potential “warming” of the Alliance’s regional security efforts. To make the move from a more measured Western European Allied Assurance (2014 Wales Summit) to greater Russian Deterrence (2016 Warsaw Summit) NATO will require greater operational funding. With "Great Recession" contagion and an anaemic economic growth the question we should be asking is whether NATO can afford another Cold War. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Yet the cold, hard truth comes down to cold, hard cash.

An interview with Wojciech Jakóbik, editor in chief of BiznesAlert.pl. Interviewer: Adam Reichardt.

West-Russia relations are approaching a dangerous low point or even point of no return that may be decisive for the further development of Russian-NATO relations, already under severe stress since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis in 2013-2014. It is also clear that the United States-Russia confrontation has become global rather than regional, as the case of Syria clearly shows. This also reverberates on NATO-Russia relations, adding further tensions, especially in the Baltic Sea and in the Black Sea, which have lately become hot spots for possible military confrontations, either spontaneous or through premeditated military incidents.

The relations between Russia and the United States have not been so bad in a long time. Arguably, they were warmer in the 1980s. Undoubtedly the tense situation will not be improved by Russia’s increased military activity. The involvement of Moscow in the Syrian conflict, the deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, the announced restoration of military bases in Cuba and Vietnam and the blockade of French resolution on Syria at the UN Security Council are only a few examples of the Kremlin recent foreign endeavours. It would be worthwhile to spare a thought for the Cold War-like state of relations between East and West, as it is difficult to avoid the reflection that the world has somewhat gone back about four decades.

If you arrive in Tbilisi – the capital of Georgia – by plane, before you get to the city centre from the airport, you will have to drive along the George W. Bush highway. The former US President remains highly popular, especially with western minded Georgians, not least because of his staunch support for the democratic transition of the former Soviet country – and especially for his efforts to make Georgia a member of NATO. It was Bush who tried to convince his European counterparts in 2008 to grant Georgia a membership action plan (MAP) together with Ukraine, which would have put both countries officially on track to joining the military alliance. But due to resistance from France and Germany all he got was the binding promise that “these countries would become members of NATO” in the future, noted in the final declaration of the summit.