Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has been stepping up his insistence that train and bus routes to Russia should be canceled. Such a decision would need to be approved by President Petro Poroshenko. Omelyan’s recommendation is driven by security concerns: Kyiv alleges that visitors from... MORE

The annual Russia-hosted Eastern Economic Forum is about to open (September 11–13) in Vladivostok, and President Vladimir Putin has arrived there to greet the leaders of China, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea. This carefully prepared ceremony should provide relief for him from the mounting tensions... MORE

Shocking news at the end of July of the murder of three independent Russian journalists investigating the activity of a Russian private defense company in the Central African Republic (CAR) was followed a month later with the signing of a military cooperation agreement between that... MORE

China’s “New Silk Road” or “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) has reached Central Asia in resounding fashion. As a result, the republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have seen large increases in Chinese presence and investment. Although both countries have overlapping needs, the degree and character... MORE

In mid-July, Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek hosted a roundtable dedicated to the future of the Kumtor Gold Mine, one of the largest gold deposits in the world. According to Kumtor Gold Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada’s Centerra Gold, which operates the mine, the deposit... MORE

Ukraine has begun mass producing ammunition for 40-millimeter automatic grenade launchers, the state defense industry monopoly Ukroboronprom recently announced. This caliber is widely used by the militaries of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states; whereas, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have, thus far, utilized mainly... MORE

The Soviet economy was notorious for producing goods no one wanted to buy so that managers could put out the kind of statistics the Communist Party bosses wanted. Something similar now appears to be going on in Russia’s beleaguered space industry: Its firms are continuing... MORE

In January 2018, Beijing issued a White Paper on its strategic approach to the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The document notes China wants to take advantage of this shortcut to Europe and the possibilities it opens for extracting natural resources from the Arctic seabed as... MORE

It is notoriously challenging to acquire accurate socio-economic data on a country as insulated as Turkmenistan. And the difficulty is further heightened by the fact that the autocratic government in Ashgabat consistently paints society in roseate terms, even as the Turkmenistani opposition scattered abroad relates... MORE

Russians have long feared that the demographic imbalance between an overpopulated China and an underpopulated Siberia and Russian Far East will eventually result in Beijing’s taking control of what is now part of the Russian Federation. And Moscow has manipulated that fear since Soviet times... MORE