For the third time since the beginning of October, Chinese employees of the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft came out to protest. Their grievances include the failures of that company to pay them in a timely fashion, to assist those whose positions have been eliminated,... MORE

In recent months, a series of analytical publications sparked fresh debate in Iran about the status of Iran’s oil and natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea as well as why it has still not taken greater efforts to exploit those resources. Namely, a piece... MORE

On November 12, Istanbul hosted the eighth summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), attended by the leaders of member states Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and of observer states Hungary and Turkmenistan (Turkkon.org, November 12). The summit, dedicated this... MORE

Since the victory of Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh War (September 27–November 9, 2020), Russian commentators have been concerned about Ankara’s efforts to create a union of Turkic states under its aegis. And that alarm has only intensified now that Turkey has established... MORE

On November 13, one of the top leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party, former parliamentary chairperson Irakli Kobakhidze, issued a statement, in which he referred to Polish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Anna Fotyga as a “patron of criminals” (Facebook.com, November 13). Fotyga,... MORE

The political crisis in Belarus is far from over. Its internationalization along the lines of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia and the West began well before the current showdown over Middle Eastern migrants. Stuck at the Polish border (see EDM, November 11), the masses of... MORE

As a part of its Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese plans to construct a railway from Xinjiang through Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan and onward to Turkmenistan has been under discussion for two decades. If realized, the railway would transform the geopolitical situation in the region. This... MORE

On November 8, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda held consultations in Warsaw with the government, military and border guard service regarding the artificial migration crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border (Prezydent.pl, November 8). The situation there has intensified, with 3,000–4,000 migrants gathered in the direct vicinity of... MORE

A new point of acute East-West tension has emerged on the Polish-Belarusian border. Minsk and the West have been at loggerheads since August 2020, when Belarus’s strongman, Alyaksandr Lukashenka (ruling since 1994) declared himself reelected for a sixth consecutive presidential term in office. Massive protests... MORE

On November 4, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a package of 28 Union State programs, formerly called “road maps,” for economic integration with Russia. “Clearly spelled out in the Union programs are the formation of joint sectoral markets, the implementation of a harmonized financial, tax,... MORE