Skolkovo, Russia:
Perhaps frustrated by what at times can seem like his own one-man effort to bring his unwieldy country into the 21st century, President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday turned to a seasoned fighter of government bureaucracy and other dark forces, Michael Schwirtz reports in The New York Times.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, terminator, governor and now, it seems, innovator, was here in this near suburb of Moscow with a delegation of entrepreneurial heavyweights from Silicon Valley, vowing to do what he could to help pump up Medvedev's efforts to modernize Russia.
Medvedev, an avid blogger, who sent Schwarzenegger greetings via Twitter when he arrived in Moscow on Sunday, has spoken often about the need to fight corruption, lessen government interference in business and allow greater political competition. This, he has said, will help improve Russia's business climate, though the project has been long on eloquent speeches and rather short on action, so far.
Schwarzenegger, the California governor who, of course, is also known for action films like "The Terminator," joined by executives from Google and other technology companies, called Russia a "gold mine" for foreign investors and praised the Russian president as "a great visionary" and an "action president," who is on the road to transforming his country -- an effort that, of course, might profit from a little American know-how.