On April 28, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid a working visit to Russia’s capital, where he delivered a lecture at the Moscow State University, twenty years after his first similar speech there in 1994. Rather expectedly, the president’s speech was dedicated to the issue of... MORE

There is no consensus in the Chinese expert community regarding the time frame of the next North Korean nuclear test. However, the policy debate that started with the rise of the “abandonment school” after the third nuclear test, which occurred in February last year, has... MORE

The Russian government announced this month that it would cut developmental programs in the North Caucasus by another 13 percent, down to the equivalent of about $6 billion over the next decade. The Russian government’s program for developing the North Caucasus until 2025, which was... MORE

In a move that both exacerbates international conflicts in the Western Pacific and suggests how Moscow plans to proceed in the Arctic, Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed to all outside shipping and fishing the entire Sea of Okhotsk—some 52,000 square kilometers of water that... MORE

Globally, 295 new nuclear power plants are under construction or planned by 2030. The total aggregate value of the total build is estimated at $1.23 trillion, with international procurement worth approximately $26 billion per annum. [1] The size and prestige of this market has long... MORE

China’s leadership has, in the past year, announced many reforms to the Chinese economy, and especially the country's financial system. Some are slated to be implemented over time, while some are already in the process of being implemented. How can we distinguish between the two,... MORE

China’s relentless global search for energy supplies has taken it from Central Asia to Sudan. But China imports oil from politically unstable nations such as inflation-ravaged Venezuela; Iran, constricted by international sanctions; and violence-ridden Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, increasing the... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China for a summit in May. In advance of that meeting, Russian sources are again claiming that an agreement on a gas pipeline will be reached between Gazprom and its Chinese partners. Allegedly, both sides have agreed... MORE

The Ukrainian government has apparently understated its possible economic losses caused by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula. According to a recent valuation by the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Russia seized an estimated 127 billion hryvna ($10 billion) of assets in Crimea,... 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