The lasting impact of the latest round of sanctions slapped on Iran in June by the United Nations Security Council followed by an additional and more stringent unilateral sanctions regime levied by the United States – the chief proponent of sanctions – and the European... MORE

September 27 marked the second visit by Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliev to Uzbekistan since 2004. Meeting with Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, Aliev emphasized the high degree of bilateral political relations, while calling for a boost in their lagging economic relationship (www.ru.trend.az, September 29; www.rian.ru,  September... MORE

Russia has sought to expand its trade with China in an apparent bid to prop up what was officially denoted as the strategic partnership between the two nations. Meanwhile, as bilateral trade recovered, China has regained a surplus in its trade with Russia. The official... MORE

In China’s quest to secure raw materials, resources and markets, Beijing has laid out a sophisticated blueprint to develop a region-wide transit corridor throughout the subcontinent. In the Himalayas, it has built rail, road and air networks that can support the Chinese military’s logistic supply... MORE

On September 3, the Ukrainian government presented a tax reform which should make the country more attractive to foreign investors and promote economic reform. Prime Minister, Mykola Azarov, stated that Ukrainian taxes would “probably be the lowest in Europe” (UT1, September 3). Several of the... MORE

The Caspian region is becoming enmeshed in a web of overlapping political, military, trade and energy interests of countries extending from Asia, to the Middle East, to Russia, to Europe. Given the rising instability of Middle East energy supplies, the Caspian basin has emerged in... MORE

Armenia’s economy is emerging from its first major downturn since the early 1990’s faster than expected, helped by similar recovery globally. Official statistics show that it expanded by 6.7 percent in the first half of this year and surpassed even the most optimistic government expectations.... MORE

More Kyrgyz political activists are speaking out against the prospective deployment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) 52-member Police Advisory Group. Infringement of the country’s sovereignty, limited capacity to improve the situation in southern Kyrgyzstan, and the potential for increased instability... MORE

Russian Transportation Minister, Igor Levitin, toured the North Caucasian republics from July 31 to August 3. During that visit he announced several highway reconstruction projects, and unveiled plans for consolidation of the air transport industry in the North Caucasus. At the same time, however, he... MORE

Two years ago, Russian tanks stopped on the outskirts of Tbilisi before slowly rolling back to the devastated Tskhinvali, but nobody in Russia appears interested in celebrating or even reflecting on that “victory,” which is still broadly approved by public opinion (www.levada.ru, August 4). Russian... MORE