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The article focuses on issues discussed at the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) congress, held from November 13-20 in Moscow, Russia. Listed among its member confederations are unions from both Iraq and Kuwait. The WFTU, launched with fanfare in Paris, France, in 1945 to unite the world's unions, is now in considerable disarray. Depicted in cold war terminology as a propaganda trumpet for Russian policy and ideology, the WFTU has representatives from non-communist countries in which unions are part of the state apparatus. Perhaps the biggest crisis facing the WFTU is the future course of trade unionism in Russia and its current republics.

This article debunks ten myths associated with modern Russia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, sometimes noted for his political savvy in handling the country's invasion of Georgia in 2008, has in fact managed to unite a European front against him. Despite the belief that Russia has been internationally humiliated since 1989, the country has wholly been welcomed by its Western peers. U.S. foreign policy on Russia is not likely to change under the administration of the 2008 President-elect.

The article emphasizes the necessity of adopting the rule of law principle in Russia, as suggested by Bill Browder, the grandson of Earl Browder, the leader of the Communist party USA in the 1930s and during World War II. In contrast to his grandfather, who is pro-Stalin, Bill imbibed American values and a passion against the evil of a new Russian system under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. Bill is involved in seeking justice for the death of his Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

This article reports that the United Nations, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are not taking an active role to curb the escalating Serbian violence in northern Kosovo. Kosovo's plans to become an independent state have fragmented the EU. In addition, Russia is moving into some Balkan areas by providing them with money and energy contracts.

The article examines the status of the Kosovo region of the Balkans in 2007, noting that the question of its statehood remains unresolved. The author considers Russia's actions in the matter to be intransigent. Efforts to resolve the question of Kosovo statehood undertaken by Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland, on behalf of the United Nations are discussed.