One striking feature of this year’s United States presidential election campaign has been the invisible but remarkably persistent background presence of Russia and its leader, President Vladimir Putin. Putin can perhaps be proud of this achievement: no other world leader (except for Syrian President Bashar... MORE

Earlier this month, Turkey hosted the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul. The theme of the Congress, held on October 9–13, was “Embracing New Frontiers.” The participants—who included 3 presidents, 56 ministers, as well as academics and energy experts from 82 countries—came together to address... MORE

On Wednesday, October 19, the Russian Duma almost unanimously approved the bill, proposed by President Vladimir Putin on October 3, on the suspension of the plutonium disposal agreement with the United States (TASS, October 19). The original agreement was signed in 2000. It obliged both... MORE

Three conflicts occurring simultaneously along separate fronts are currently vying for international attention: Russia and its allies continue to besiege the Syrian opposition forces in Aleppo, and a massive Russian naval force is assembling in the Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Iraqi and international coalition forces led... MORE

Earlier this month (October 2016), the governments of the Baltic States and Poland finally reached all the necessary political, financial and technical agreements to implement one of the most ambitious projects inside the European Union—linking Finland, the Baltic States and Poland with the unified Trans-European... MORE

Top decision makers, opinion leaders and CEOs of the world’s largest energy companies, including BP, Gazprom, Shell and Total, convened in Istanbul, on October 9–13, for the 23rd World Energy Congress. High-level officials, including 56 ministers from various countries around the globe, also attended the... MORE

Political infighting and bureaucratic red tape in Italy are jeopardizing the realization of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the westernmost segment of a wider energy corridor to bring Azerbaijani natural gas to Southeastern Europe. In turn, these problems are frustrating Rome’s efforts to establish a Mediterranean... MORE

The Moscow media—and all too often news outlets in the West—paint Russians as a nation 100 percent behind Vladimir Putin’s war in Syria, and Belarusians as a nation fully behind Russia. But in fact, Russian support for Putin’s aggression and Belarusian support for Russia is... MORE

A significant spike in violence has been registered in the North Caucasus. Within the span of just one week, October 3–9, an estimated 18 people were killed and 4 more suffered injuries in insurgency-related violence across the region. Fifteen suspected rebels, including eight in Chechnya,... MORE

Russia’s military operations over the past two and a half years—from the seizure of Crimea, to support for separatists in Donbas, to its intervention in Syria—have revealed differing aspects of the country’s growing military capability. While the use of hard power in these divergent theaters... MORE