last but not least, we will be joined by yevgeny volk. we have known each other since 1993. he is heading our moscow office. he was a staffer in the supreme soviet on security issues. he was deputy director of the russian institute for strategic studies. he was very well known in international media and is a graduate of the prestigious moscow institute of national relations. that is the outline for the first panel. with that, i that asked fritz ermath to start. >> as i am something of a cu rtain raiser for others, of my remarks will be brief. perhaps not as comprehensive as ariels' introduction suggestion. i take my cue from the observations that the obama administration is trying to improve u.s.-russia relations from their worst condition since the end of the cold war. the cold war, that is something i know something about. it prompts me to ask what lessons for the management of u.s.-russian relations can we draw from the cold war experience? although the situation is different, and russia is not the soviet union. there are some applicable lessons, and i want to speak to th

and the question on georgia will go to yevgeny volk. let's keep our answers short. do you want to start about the energy corridor, please? >> we cannot hear the energy part of the question. please repeat it. >> the questionnair said what du think about the future of the southern corridor, through georgia, as an energy route that by passes russia? related to that, how old do you see a chance of another conflict between russia and georgia? >> rocha of course is going to do its best to avoid and not allow any energy deliveries except through russia. i don't think there's anyone strong enough to counter this. i'm not a champion of russian geopolitics. the and pluralistic approach. but i have to admit that for the time being russia is strong enough to fight and the nobuko pipeline, there is no gas to fill. [unintelligible] as to the corridor through georgia, i hope so. >> the situation in the caucasus mountains remains very tense. politically and militarily. the problem is that saakashvili, the president of georgia, is an enemy of the russian elite. russia does everythin