Latest Articles about Foreign Policy

PRC Investment in Russian Economy Increasingly Important as Sanctions Deepen
Executive Summary: Russia has become increasingly dependent on trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with more than a third of Russia’s total trade turnover being generated by the PRC. The recent memorandum on the development... MORE

Iran and Belarus Boost Their Partnership
Executive Summary: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, on August 19, met with Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Minsk following a string of previous high-level visits that expanded bilateral relations in commercial and military spheres. Tensions with the West have pushed Belarus and Iran to seek alignment... MORE

Washington Breakthrough Spurs Armenia–Azerbaijan–Türkiye Momentum
Executive Summary: Following the meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House on August 8, there are hopes that Yerevan and Baku are close to signing a long-anticipated peace treaty. Armenia and Türkiye have been making progress... MORE

Warsaw Views Trump–Nawrocki Meeting with Cautious Optimism
Executive Summary: U.S. President Donald Trump and Polish President Karol Nawrocki met at the White House on September 3, garnering much attention in Poland since the country views its alliance with the United States as the cornerstone of its security policy. Nawrocki, then a Polish... MORE

Putin Raises the Stakes of Rejecting Peace Deal
Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been unwilling to compromise to reach peace, reaffirming maximalist demands and committing to a risky strategy of provoking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), hoping to demonstrate the alliance’s weakness to justify rising costs of his war against... MORE

Azerbaijan Attempts Pragmatic Diplomacy at SCO Summit
Executive Summary: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Beijing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on August 31–September 1 emphasizes Baku’s recent push for the formation of a multivector diplomatic position. Baku seeks deeper SCO engagement to boost the Middle Corridor, but India appears... MORE

Moscow Using Svalbard to Test NATO’s Readiness and Resolve
Executive Summary: Moscow is using drone incursions in Romania and Poland to test the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) readiness and resolve, seeking to highlight divisions over how to respond to this new form of aggression. Moscow’s simultaneous moves in Svalbard (Spitzbergen), a Norwegian archipelago... MORE

Iran Does Not Want to Pay Price For Armenia–Azerbaijan Peace Agreement
Executive Summary: The August 8 U.S.-mediated meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan launched the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), granting Azerbaijan direct land access to its Nakhchivan exclave via Armenian territory and symbolically sidestepping disputed corridor... MORE

India Remains a Key Financier for Kremlin
Executive Summary: India’s increased economic cooperation with Russia since 2022, despite Western sanctions, has provided the Russian military-industrial complex with critical technological and financial support. India has helped Russia evade Western sanctions by providing Moscow with Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips, octogen, and Swiss-made precision... MORE

Azerbaijan–PRC Cooperation and the Strategic Consolidation of the Middle Corridor
Executive Summary: Azerbaijan has pursued proactive diplomacy to strengthen its role as a transit hub since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, especially with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Transit through Azerbaijan offers a sanction-free, resilient, and stable environment to facilitate... MORE