Statements and declarations about Georgia made by Western countries and especially the United States carry big weight in Tbilisi. Every one of them is read, re-read, analyzed, and scrutinized by Georgian politicians, experts and ordinary citizens alike. US President Barack Obama’s March 26 statement in... MORE

Russia’s Anschluss of Crimea last month was carried out according to all the standard procedures of the Third Reich. Like Nazi Germany and the Sudetenland in 1938, Moscow captured Crimea and presented the move as a triumph of historical justice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4octWQkIxg).There are also some important... MORE

Following the news of Doku Umarov’s death and the elevation of a new leader of the North Caucasian armed underground, experts have started to debate whether this will bring changes in the tactics of the insurgents.The replacement of Umarov, whose death was announced only in... MORE

The Ukrainian authorities’ initial response to the unrest in the country’s southeastern regions was a mixed one: Pro-Russian protesters were able to seize the regional administration buildings in Donetsk and Kharkiv as well as the Security Service (SBU) offices in Donetsk and Luhansk on April... MORE

Moscow seems to be preparing the atmosphere for a possible military intervention in Ukraine’s eastern regions. Russia could, if it deemed expedient, intervene there with troops in some form or other, as it has just done in Crimea. But, more likely, Moscow would leverage the... MORE

A well-coordinated attack on local administrative buildings by pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukrainian cities Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lugansk began on April 6. Local police forces did little to stop the rioting, while local government buildings and the local Ukrainian security service (SBU) headquarters were ransacked... MORE

Demand for food in China is increasing at an unprecedented rate, as the Chinese become wealthier. In 2011, China became a net importer of rice, and imports of soybeans overtook domestic production in 2004. Changing Chinese appetites for grains and meats coupled with losses of... MORE

With two years left in the second and last term of Ma Ying-jeou’s presidency, Taiwan has been embroiled in a political crisis since March 18 that will have serious, and possibly long-lasting, repercussions on the dynamics within Ma’s Kuomintang (KMT) and the island’s relationship with... MORE

On April 2, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov who had headed the country’s government since September 2012. On the same day, the president met with leaders of parliamentary groups to discuss the candidacy of a new prime minister.... MORE

After the swift annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation, multiple anxious voices warned that a similar fate is being prepared for Transnistria, the Russia-backed secessionist region of Moldova. As a significant signal, the topic of Transnistria made it into the recent discussion... MORE