Interview: West should monitor Russia better 

It's no surprise that covert activities by Russia are taking place today more than ever before, Cohen said, after being asked if he thought Moscow's hand in the recent turmoil in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova had been designed to coincide with EU plans to launch an 'Eastern Partnership' initiative with the countries in Russia's 'near abroad' (EurActiv 15/04/09). 

"You need to get to intelligence services and security services engaged in monitoring Russia's influence activities. This is not just intelligence collection. This is what was known during the Cold War as 'influence operations' and 'active measures'. There is, unfortunately, very little political appetite for doing this, and many experts have retired or even passed away,' Cohen lamented. 

However, the US analyst said the main reason for Russia's success in pushing forward its agenda was that the EU had been unable to come up with coherent policies. He blamed divisions between 'old' and 'new' Europe for this, and indeed used that infamous term coined by former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld several times, without naming him. 

"I have just come back from Germany, and the Germans are focused on developing economic, energy and political ties with the Kremlin," Cohen said. He added that EU countries were also incapable of putting together strategies to deal with Europe's growing dependency on Russian energy. 

Asked whether Russia had something to do with the recent setbacks in the Czech Senate, where the Lisbon Treaty is stuck, Cohen insisted that the new EU treaty had run into trouble primarily due to problems in Europe as a whole. 

"To blame this just on Russian intrigues is probably an easy way out, and an oversimplification of deeper problems," he stated. 

Asked what advice he would offer the Obama administration in the US should it be willing to listen to the Heritage Foundation, Cohen warned that Russia was growing more assertive. To illustrate this, he cited Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's warning that he could deploy missiles with nuclear capability in Kaliningrad the day after the US elections (EurActiv 17/11/08). 

"Today, Medvedev and Obama are all smiles, but it is what the two sides do - such as developing a joint approach on Iran, cooperating on Afghanistan - not the rhetoric, which will define the relationship," Cohen concluded.

To read the interview in full, please click here.