Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Russian, NATO Maritime Deployments Intensify off Syria

Despite differing political agendas in Syria’s ongoing civil war, Russia and the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are now sending significant naval forces to Syria’s Mediterranean coastline. The eastern Mediterranean is becoming crowded, as ten countries, in addition to Russia and Turkey,... MORE

Hard Choice for Kazakhstan as Russia-Turkey Spat Deepens

On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared economic sanctions against Turkey. Four days earlier, the latter had downed a Russian Su-24 fighter jet near the border with Syria after it illegally entered Turkish airspace, according to both Ankara and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization... MORE

Another Opportunity Lost: Russia and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is not generally seen as an area of Russia’s core vital interests. But given the priority of Moscow’s Asian pivot, it is an important area both in terms of strategic issues and economic opportunity. Nevertheless it seems that once again Moscow has missed... MORE

Kazakhstan Looks to India, Iran for Access to the World’s Oceans

Since achieving independence in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, landlocked Kazakhstan has sought to end its geographical isolation by fostering relations with neighboring countries. In recent weeks, Kazakhstan’s national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) and India’s Ministry of Railways signed a... MORE

Is Sufi Islam Losing Its Dominant Role in Dagestan?

The statutes of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Dagestan say that all imams in the republican mosques must be appointed by the official mufti of Dagestan. In practice, this does not normally happen. The communities themselves propose the candidacies of mosque imams and ask... MORE