In early May 2020, media reports highlighted the construction of a large hydropower system composed of the Khudafarin and Qiz Qalasi (Maiden Tower) hydropower plants as well as hydro junctions and related facilities and bridges on the Aras River, which follows part of the border... MORE

Twenty-six years ago, on September 20, 1994, Azerbaijan signed an accord with a consortium of ten international oil companies to develop its fields on the Caspian Shelf, an event that both Baku and the West described as “the deal of the century.” The agreement linked... MORE

Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft and the state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft added another page to their long-running confrontation when Rosneft’s CEO, Igor Sechin, complained to President Vladimir Putin, on May 12, about the high transportation fees being charged by the pipeline operator (Kremlin.ru, May... MORE

On May 25, the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), in Belarus, finished receiving nuclear fuel for the initial load of its first reactor (Belta, May 25). These nuclear rods, delivered in batches since May 6, are now ready to be loaded into the reactor, after... MORE

In his statement last January commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first Russian Antarctic expedition, President Vladimir Putin expressed admiration for “generations of Russians who have dedicated their lives to studying Antarctica.” He acknowledged the “huge contribution” of Russian science in exploring the world’s southernmost... MORE

Borders remain in dispute throughout Central Asia, with Moscow paying such close attention that governments in the region now feel the need to warn the Russian authorities not to become involved (Ritmeurasia.org, June 5). Often Moscow offers its services as a peacemaker in an effort... MORE

For more than a decade, Vladimir Putin has made the development of the Northern Sea Route as well as the broader Arctic littoral and seabed a focus of his national policies. And over this period, coverage of this effort has almost invariably followed the same... MORE

On April 2, Russia adopted the “Energy Strategy 2035” (ES-2035) planning document (Minenergo.gov.ru, April 2). As noted by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the country’s fuel and energy complex (FEC) is a driver of domestic economic growth; therefore, “we need to start planning now for... MORE

Introduction: China Renews Its Maritime Sovereignty Claims at the Expense of Vietnam The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan has not deterred the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from pursuing its long-term strategic vision of asserting its... MORE

A number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region are looking at the Arctic as a potential engine to drive dramatic transformations in their most strategically important economic sectors, including energy, transportation, as well as research and development (Pro-arctic.ru, April 24). Aside from the three Asian... MORE