Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
Ukrainian President, Parliament Greenlight Court to Fight Top-Level Corruption
On June 7, Ukraine’s parliament passed a long-awaited bill to establish an anti-corruption court, and President Petro Poroshenko promptly signed it into law four days later. The anti-corruption court is supposed to be the last link in the chain of bodies designed to fight top-level... MORE
Putin’s Visit to Austria: Implications for Energy Diplomacy in Europe
On his first Western trip since reelection to a fourth term as president of Russia, Vladimir Putin traveled to Austria—a right-leaning country he hopes will help him weaken European Union solidarity (Kremlin.ru, June 5). The June 5 visit was rife with energy diplomacy, including Putin’s... MORE
Reminding Russia About Its Lost Seat at the G7 Table
This year’s G7 summit, held in Quebec, Canada, on June 8–9, was overcome by seemingly unprecedented controversies even before United States President Donald Trump suggested bringing Russia back into this elite club of the world’s largest liberal-democratic economies. Only the newly appointed Italian Prime Minister... MORE
Russia, Israel and Iran Strike a Deal in Syria
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Moscow, on May 31, for talks with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other Russian top brass. Lieberman was accompanied by several of his country’s top military officials, including the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) military intelligence chief, Major General Tamir... MORE
New Italian Government Will Likely Struggle to Boost Ties With Russia
Addressing the Italian parliament, Italy’s new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his government, recently formed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant League party, was in favor of an opening toward Russia (Ansa, June 5). Moscow voiced satisfaction with Conte’s words... MORE
Aggravated Situation Around Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Exclave
An Azerbaijani soldier stationed in the country’s large western exclave of Nakhchivan was killed, on May 20, during a combat mission while suppressing enemy provocations coming across the border from Armenia. The incident came only two days after a visit by Armenia’s defense and foreign... MORE
Successful International Security Gathering in Belarus Brings Together East and West
In his May 24 speech at the Minsk Dialogue forum, “Eastern Europe: In Search of Security for All,” President Alyaksandr Lukashenka reminded that Belarus came forward with the initiative to launch a new large-scale international dialogue on security that should strive to overcome existing disagreements... MORE
India and Kyrgyzstan Deepen Their Military Cooperation
On May 14, Indian and Kyrgyzstani alpine special forces troops began a two-week joint training exercise at Kyrgyzstan’s Military Base 20636. The exercise included both lectures and practical classes on tactical, mountain and fire training, as well as survival techniques in mountainous conditions (AKIPress, May... MORE
Russian Kremlin Critic Survives Murder Attempt in Kyiv After Being Reported Dead
The defense correspondent and fierce Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko (41) was reported shot dead, on the evening of May 29, by an unidentified killer on the doorstep of his apartment in Kyiv. The news provoked an outpouring of grief and sympathy from many journalists, friends,... MORE
The Many Sides of Tentative Sino-Japanese Rapprochement
A recent, unexpected rapprochement between China and Japan has emerged more quickly than many observers thought possible. And unlike previous instances since the two countries recognized each other in 1972, the initiative this time seems to have come from the Chinese side. It must be... MORE