On September 29, the presidents of the Caspian littoral states—Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan—attended the fourth Caspian Summit, held in Astrakhan (TASS, kremlin.ru, September 29). This year’s meeting of the heads of state once again produced no definitive five-way agreement to effectively delineate Caspian... MORE

South Sudan relapsed into war on December 15, 2013, primarily due to the power struggle between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. China once again found one of its sizable foreign investments—particularly in the oil sector—embroiled in local political turbulence.... MORE

China plans to develop a Silk Road economic belt that spans the Eurasian continent and a maritime Silk Road that links the Pacific with the Indian Ocean. We can see on a map that the two Silk Roads will cross in the Middle East region,... MORE

With the diplomatic standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine still far from reaching a resolution, and as Moscow continues to support the separatist movements in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, the Russian economy keeps sliding into a recession. The International Monetary Fund... MORE

After the Russian Federation banned, in July 2014, the import of a large list of Moldovan agricultural products, Moldovan businesses have continually looked for solutions. In particular, Belarus has become one of the identified commercial vents for these barred Moldovan exports. Moldova’s Prime Minister Iurie... MORE

Tashkent’s recent diplomatic efforts to serve and actively pursue its vital national interests may best be described by the mantra “a strategy is always square, but tactics are always round.” The attendance of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, at the most recent summit of... MORE

Russian ties with Japan have clearly suffered serious damage due to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. Apparently, there will not be a visit by Russian President Putin to Japan anytime soon, despite previous wishes for such a trip by both sides (Asahi Shimbun AJW, September 24).... MORE

Someone looking at a map of the Caucasus would be surprised to see that only three transportation links cut across the Main Caucasus Ridge connecting the North and South Caucasus. This was not always the case. Prior to the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus... MORE

Dagestan’s gross regional product is a little more than $2,000 per capita. By many economic indicators, Russian economists say, Dagestan is not only far behind many other Russian regions, but is at the level of some of the world’s poorest nations. Economic underdevelopment has been... MORE

On September 22, the Belarus-USA Investment Forum was held at the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan. The forum featured speakers such as Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovch, Economy Minister Nikolay Snopkov, Development Bank chairman Sergei Roumas, as well as Minsk-based High Tech Park Director... MORE