The 20th summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held virtually, on November 10, under the rotating chairmanship of the Russian Federation. The leaders of the regional organization’s member states—Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and... MORE

COVID-19’s “second wave” is pushing back economic recovery all over the globe, giving rise to predictions of massive recorded drops in GDP this year followed by a robust recovery in 2021 and decent growth rates after that. Official economic forecasts in Russia notably mirror those... MORE

One of the few world leaders yet to acknowledge the outcome of the presidential election in the United States is Russian President Vladimir Putin. This procrastination is strikingly uncharacteristic: Putin, for instance, congratulated Maia Sandu the next day after her victory over incumbent and patently... MORE

Russia is determinedly expanding its influence in Africa. On November 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order for the country to build a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, its first in Africa since the end of the Cold War. According to Putin’s... MORE

The 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan (September 27–November 9) has resulted in an Azerbaijani national triumph, a Russian geopolitical and diplomatic victory over the West, and a conclusive discrediting of multilateral diplomacy as an instrument for conflict-resolution in and around the post-Soviet space (see... MORE

The annual “Russian March”—an attempt by extreme nationalist forces to appropriate Russia’s National Unity Day (November 4)—has routinely provided a suggestive measure of the evolving strength of the radical-right opposition to President Vladimir Putin (see EDM, November 6, 2017 and November 9, 2018). This year... MORE

During his first trip to the Russian Far East as prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin berated the inadequate level of infrastructure of the local seaport in Magadan (on the Sea of Okhotsk), which, he noted, hindered the surrounding region’s economic development and international outreach (Korabel.ru, August... MORE

Like a number of other regional neighbors and global powers, Turkey has been expanding its attention to and involvement with the countries of the South Caucasus in recent months. That growing focus has, of course, been driven most immediately by the latest round of fierce... MORE

On October 31, the Tsargrad Hotel, owned by Russian “Orthodox oligarch” Konstantin Malofeev, hosted the Sixth Congress of the Union of Donbas Volunteers (UDV). The UDV is headed by former prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Borodai (Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 31).... MORE

At the G20 summit last Saturday (November 21), virtually hosted by Saudi Arabia, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to play the role of a wise statesman charting a course of cautious moderation in tumultuous times of economic spasms and pandemic. His advertising of the Russian... MORE