Russian Navy Suffers Another Blow as Aircraft Carrier Is Damaged While Undergoing Repairs
Xi’s Grip Loosens Amid Trade War Policy Paralysis
Egypt Declares its Success in Dismantling Islamist Militancy
Georgia’s Hyper-Competitive Presidential Election: Prelude to Political Turmoil?
The second round of presidential elections in Georgia is scheduled to take place in a few weeks. The first round of voting, on October 28, did not reveal an outright winner. The candidate from the... MORE
Russia’s Peace Conference on Afghanistan: What Does It Mean?
Last week (November 9), Russia finally convened its long-heralded peace conference on Afghanistan. Attending the conference were members of the Taliban as well as the governments of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and China.... MORE
Moscow Laying Groundwork for Deeper Military Involvement in Libya
Moscow is deepening its military involvement in Libya while denying to its own people and the world that it is doing so, thus repeating the pattern that the Kremlin has followed in Syria and the... MORE
Lukashenka Meets American Analysts
On November 5–6, a group of high-profile foreign policy analysts from the United States visited Minsk and met with Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The guests included retired General Benjamin Hodges, who in 2014–2017 commanded US... MORE
Tymoshenko Reveals ‘Peace Plan’ for Eastern Ukraine as She Ramps up Presidential Campaign to Challenge Poroshenko
Ukraine’s presidential campaign is in full swing. Five months out from the election (the first round is scheduled for March 31), it remains entirely unclear who the next head of state will be. Yet, the... MORE
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry: ‘Ministry of Corruption’ or Driver of the Kremlin’s ‘Soft Power?’
On October 25, the 82nd (and largest to date) humanitarian convoy organized by Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) delivered 700 tons of humanitarian aid to “the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts” (RIA... MORE
Belarus Undergoing Serious Reassessment by US, Europe
If public statements recently made in and about Belarus were to be ranked in descending order of significance, the October 31 remarks by A. Wess Mitchell, US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia,... MORE
Uzbekistan Steps up Railway Diplomacy
An official delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, visited Pakistan on November 1–2. Kamilov and his retinue were received by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and held meetings with Foreign Minister Mahmood... MORE
Moscow Set to Re-Activate Cuban Base It Closed in 2002 and Perhaps Open New Ones
Vladimir Putin appears to be readying to reactivate a Soviet-era signals intelligence (SIGINT) base in Cuba that he closed back in 2002. This prospect is already attracting concerned attention in the West but may be... MORE