Despite Western economic sanctions, Iranian-Turkish relations have been developing in many different directions in recent years. Illustratively, on October 24–25, the Eastern Anatolia Development Agency (DAKA), Iran’s Foreign Ministry Institution for Political and International Studies (IPIS) and the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM)... MORE

Moscow’s ability to finance the North Caucasus republics took a substantial hit in 2014 as the financial situation in the country deteriorated. Out of roughly $1 billion in investments in infrastructure projects planned for the region this year, the Russian government disbursed less than a... MORE

No darling of the Western media, Belarus suffers from a peculiar imbalance between two kinds of reporting about it. Much more is written about Belarus’s Soviet legacy and its relationships with external centers of power, Russia and the European Union, than about the actual developments... MORE

In a case of striking symbolism, President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as if seeking reassurance against the specter of a mass public uprising. The dismantling of that icon of the Cold War signified... MORE

Mongolian politics were shaken on November 5, when the parliament voted to dismiss Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag for not addressing the country’s drastically slowing economic growth, plunging foreign investment, and alleged corruption and cronyism. Altankhuyag’s administration, self-labeled the “New Government for Changes,” collapsed after serving... MORE

Lately, hardly a day passes without another announcement of a new Russian military deployment in the Arctic. Yet, the Arctic’s fundamental strategic importance to Russia is economic: namely, the potential for extracting immense amounts of energy and other raw materials. Undeniably, climate change and the... MORE

Russia’s “hybrid warfare” concept embraces economic warfare as one of its key elements. Yet, less attention has been paid to the details of the economic war between Russia and Ukraine in the conflict over Crimea and parts of Donbas (eastern Ukrainian region encompassing Luhansk and... MORE

On October 22, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk delivered the grim news to his constituents that, by the end of the year, Ukraine will be short four million tons of coal (TSN.ua, October 22). Pro-Russian separatists control more than half of the coal mines in... MORE

As more people die in eastern Ukraine in the fighting between government forces and Russia-backed rebels, Moscow seems determined to pursue its internal economic goals despite the damage already caused by the West’s sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, on October 19, that his... MORE

On October 15, Kyrgyzstani lawmakers in the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyzstan’s parliament) voted on an “anti–gay propaganda” bill to criminalize and impose up to year-long prison sentences for distributing information about homosexuality or LGBT issues that is reflected in a positive light. The bill was overwhelmingly... MORE