Despite continuing disagreements with the West, Russia's top officials have pledged to turn the Eurasian nation into a "transit superpower" to link Europe and Asia by developing transcontinental railways and encouraging infrastructure development projects. New transportation infrastructure projects would allow Russia to emerge as a... MORE

A recent public opinion poll conducted by the Sonar Research company suggests that the slowdown in the Turkish economy is eroding the popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Sonar Research interviewed 2,927 people in 22 of Turkey’s 81 provinces over the period... MORE

While most American analysts are concentrating on Hurricane Ike and its potentially destructive path through the Gulf of Mexico with its offshore platforms and coastal refineries, other are fascinated by OPEC’s recent 149th meeting in Vienna on September 9 and 10, which was attended by... MORE

A growing body of evidence suggests that Russia’s disproportionate military assault on Georgia in the aftermath of Tbilisi’s failed bid to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia was preceded and accompanied by a series of coordinated and sophisticated cyber assaults on Georgia’s embryonic Internet... MORE

At the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on September 5, Central Asian leaders once again avoided supporting Russia's recognition of South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence. As at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on August 28, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister... MORE

The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced this week that warships and long-range bombers would be deployed to the Caribbean for joint military exercises with Venezuela in November. Russia's most powerful warship, the nuclear cruiser Pyotr Velikii, will lead the flotilla, accompanied by a frigate Admiral... MORE

On September 4 joint Russian-Kazakh military exercises began at the Chebarkul training range near Chelyabinsk, Russia. The exercises, long planned in the framework of the deepening military cooperation between the two countries, involved around 2,000 servicemen, more than 100 units of armored vehicles, and 30... MORE

Over the last week, the domestic political agenda in Turkey has been dominated by an unprecedented war of words between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Dogan Group, the largest media organization in the country. The confrontation has swept both the repercussions of President... MORE