On September 3, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan (speaking in that order from Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence) announced their decision that Armenia would join the Russia-led blocs—the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. This decision at one stroke nullifies the Armenia–European Union Association and... MORE

One and a half years after the tragic events in western Kazakhstan’s Zhanaozen, where 16 striking oil workers died and over 110 were wounded in bloody clashes with riot police, the Kazakhstani government is once again reassessing the situation in this troubled town. On August... MORE

On September 3, in Moscow, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia jointly sank Armenia’s association, trade and visa liberalization agreements with the European Union, which were due to be concluded at the Vilnius summit in November.  Instead, Sargsyan announced his decision... MORE

On August 26, Vladislav Baumgaertner of Russia was arrested in Minsk and placed in the KGB prison popularly known as Amerikanka while criminal proceedings have been launched against him by the Belarusian Prosecutor’s Office. An ethnic German, born and raised in the Urals (www.comnarcon.com/index.php?id=454?), Baumgaertner... MORE

The Mongolian Minister of Mining, Davaajav Gankhuyag, meeting with journalists in an August 9 press conference, confirmed the continuing decline in coal exports to China, Mongolia’s most important trade partner: “The slow speed of economic growth of Mongolia is caused by a drop in China’s... MORE

For centuries, China was a major source of wealth for the nomadic peoples of Central Asia: the relationship between the steppe and one of the most developed settled civilizations had been full of both bloody confrontations and prosperous trade. This history has imprinted itself on... MORE

The senior cadres currently meeting for their annual brainstorming session at the seaside Beidaihe retreat are putting the finishing touches on a blueprint for seminal reforms to the Chinese economy (Duowei, August 7; South China Morning Post, August 5; Xinhua, August 5). Given the signals... MORE

On July 30, Xi Jinping oversaw a meeting of the Politburo to discuss economic reform, ahead of the widely-anticipated discussions at Beidaihe leading up to the release of a new economic reform package at the Third Plenum in October (Xinhua, July 30). The official press... MORE

In a surprising move, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka did not end up going to Kiev, Ukraine, to celebrate the 1025th anniversary of the baptism of Rus, a common legacy of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, solemnly celebrated in all the three East Slavic countries (https://naviny.by/rubrics/politic/2013/07/30/ic_articles_112_182507/). Observers... MORE

Mongolia is in the midst of its traditional summer holiday slumber following its national naadam celebration from July 9–11. But the fact that Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party won a second term as president of Mongolia on June 26 (see EDM, July 8) has... MORE