Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
Will Soccer Carnival Cover up Russia’s Highly Unpopular Pension Reform?
Nice summer weather in Moscow and in most of European Russia, in addition to the surprisingly good performance by the Russian national soccer team, have added to the carnival feeling of euphoria on the streets of the Russian cities hosting the 2018 World Cup. The... MORE
Rosneft in Kurdistan: A Neglected but Critical Aspect of Russian Regional Strategy
Rosneft and Gazprom function primarily as arms of the Russian state (Jamestown.org, March 8). Although they are in business to make money for themselves, these state-owned firms are also expected to serve the Russian government and Vladimir Putin’s interest, as well as that of all... MORE
Putin Reentering Korea Conflict in Big Way
Some, especially in the West, have argued that United States President Donald Trump has effectively sidelined Russia from the rapidly evolving Korean situation by his rapprochement with North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, at the recent summit in Singapore. But such suggestions cloud years of Russian... MORE
China’s Intensifying Pressure Campaign against Taiwan
China has significantly ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was democratically-elected as the country’s president in January 2016. As Beijing’s external pressure on Taiwan grows, pressure for action is building on the Tsai administration, both from the opposition as well as from within... MORE
The Lessons China Taught Itself: Why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Matters
China’s changing political landscape and the recent accession of India to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) marks the beginning of a new chapter for one of China’s first self-founded multilateral groupings. First established in June 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the... MORE
As SCO Admits New Members, Central Asian Countries Want Greater Focus on Economic Issues
From June 8 to 10, the Chinese port city of Qingdao hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual head of states meeting. For the first time, seventeen years after the creation of SCO in 2001, the organization officially welcomed new members—India and Pakistan. Two years... MORE
Moscow Quickly Expanding Ties to Africa
Moscow is returning to sub-Saharan Africa in a big way by exploiting ties and themes developed in Soviet times: it is talking about anti-colonialism, providing university training for Africans in Russia, dispatching nominally “private” military companies to provide security, and exploiting the power of its... MORE
Putin-Trump: Another ‘Historic Summit’ in the Works After Singapore
Diplomatic sources from both Russia and the United States told this author (on June 13), on condition of anonymity, that preparations for the upcoming “historic summit” between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have intensified. Apparently, the Kremlin and the White House administration (National Security... MORE
Ukraine’s Everest Estate LLC v. Russia: About More Than Money
Last month (May 2018), the Russian Federation lost an important lawsuit lodged against it by “Everest Estate LLC and Others,” 18 Ukrainian companies that had held assets in Crimea prior to Moscow’s illegal annexation of this peninsula in early 2014. The Permanent Court of Arbitration... MORE