South Sudan relapsed into war on December 15, 2013, primarily due to the power struggle between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. China once again found one of its sizable foreign investments—particularly in the oil sector—embroiled in local political turbulence.... MORE

Russian ties with Japan have clearly suffered serious damage due to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. Apparently, there will not be a visit by Russian President Putin to Japan anytime soon, despite previous wishes for such a trip by both sides (Asahi Shimbun AJW, September 24).... MORE

Dagestan’s gross regional product is a little more than $2,000 per capita. By many economic indicators, Russian economists say, Dagestan is not only far behind many other Russian regions, but is at the level of some of the world’s poorest nations. Economic underdevelopment has been... MORE

On the eve of a new round of anti-Russian sanctions unveiled by the European Union on September 9, Gazprom’s CEO, Alexei Miller, kicked off a two-day visit to Kyrgyzstan. The head of the Russian natural gas giant and Vladimir Putin’s close advisor had previously visited... MORE

This July, Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on state visits to Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela and attended a summit of the loose group of major developing countries known as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in Fortaleza, Brazil. This was his second trip... MORE

On July 28, Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan remarked that Russia’s March 18 unilateral annexation of Crimea has caused massive energy asset losses to Ukraine (uapress.info, July 28). Prodan said, “Taking into account all the energy facilities in Crimea, we are talking... MORE

This year Sino-Mongolian relations have been buffeted by a series of challenging interruptions: the Mongolian government’s standoff with Rio Tinto over expanding underground mining operations at Oyu Tolgoi (OT) which will disrupt development of shipments of copper concentrate supplies to China, another Mongolian postponement in... MORE

Fresh sanctions against Russia imposed by the Barack Obama administration on July 16 will likely hamper Gazprom’s ability to finance the South Stream natural gas pipeline. Among the sanctioned entities are two energy companies, Rosneft and Novatek, and two financial institutions—Russia’s third-largest lender, Gazprombank, and... MORE

Bulgaria is heading for new parliamentary elections as the troubled governing coalition fell apart one year into its mandate. This development was not caused by the daily anti-government protests that have continued for over a year. Indeed, the ruling elite has paid little attention to... MORE

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warnings, Gazprom has fully halted natural gas supplies to Ukraine since June 16, citing debts calculated by Moscow for past deliveries of gas to Ukraine (see EDM, June 19). The Ukrainian government views Gazprom’s move in the broader context of... MORE