Belarus recently announced plans to join the Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) in the Suez Canal. Eventually, Minsk intends to set up its own industrial park in the Egyptian Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone); but for now, Belarus is content to cooperate with Moscow in the... MORE

Russia declared the fifth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), hosted in Vladivostok, on September 4–6, to have been the most “fruitful” since the event’s creation: reportedly, 270 contracts were signed with foreign investors and 8,500 guests (from 65 countries, representing 440 global companies/businesses) attended the forum.... MORE

On August 19, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on applying the “Agrarian Insurance Law” and establishing the “Agrarian Insurance Fund”—key steps designed to help diversify the South Caucasus country’s economy (Azertag, August 19). In recent years, diversification of the economy has become a... MORE

Residents of six major cities in Kazakhstan took to the streets last week (September 3) to protest their government’s decision allowing China to open 55 factories in their country, a move the protesters say will deepen Kazakhstan’s dependence on its large eastern neighbor and lead... MORE

The Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week (September 4–6)—the fifth one since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2012—was traditional in its pompous proceedings but rather unusual in the content. Originally, the main purpose of this high-level gathering was to energize economic development... MORE

During his recent visit to Ukraine, on August 28, United States National Security Advisor John R. Bolton forcefully argued against Kyiv permitting the selling of a controlling stake in Motor Sich—one of the world’s largest manufacturers of advanced engines for civil and military airplanes and... MORE

Introduction In June 2019, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) scored a victory in its relationship with Brazil when it gained the latter country’s support for the PRC’s candidate to lead the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over candidates put forward by France... MORE

The Caspian Sea littoral countries are not the only entities involved in the competition over the use of that body of water and its links to the broader world: federal subjects of the Russian Federation are seeking to be players as well. Notably, Astrakhan region... MORE

The Uzbekistan-China Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee held its fifth meeting on August 26, in Beijing. Uzbekistan’s committee co-chair, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, led his country’s delegation to the Chinese capital (Fmprc.gov.cn, August 28). The intergovernmental committee has been a regular and consistent biannual fixture in the... MORE

For years, Moscow had expected that it could dominate the Northern Sea Route and access to the rich natural resources on the Arctic seabed by virtue of its geographic position and its possession of the largest fleet of icebreakers in the world—assets that are absolutely... MORE