Latest Articles about Foreign Policy

Did Putin Overplay His Hand in Helsinki?
The summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last Monday (July 16) continues to generate strong international resonance, despite apparently producing few if any tangible results. In Washington, politicians and experts are at odds about interpreting Trump’s bonhomie with Putin shown at... MORE

Undisclosed Agenda of Helsinki Summit Leading to Speculation, Worries in Some Quarters
Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin seem to have established a good rapport during their summit in Helsinki, on July 16. The Russian media enthusiastically quoted Trump: “We got along well, which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results... MORE

NATO Brussels Summit: Key Outcomes and Implications for Ukrainian Interests
The Ukrainian issue was widely represented at the July 11–12 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, held in Brussels. Notably, the final Summit Declaration (Nato.int, July 11) pointedly identified Russia’s aggressive actions, both conventional military and “hybrid” (New Type), including Russian threats and examples of... MORE

Russia, Iran and the Middle East: What Comes Next?
In Helsinki, Finland, where he was attending a summit with United States President Donald Trump, on July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that restoring peace and harmony to Syria could become an effective example of Russo-US cooperation. And he added that both states have... MORE

New Georgian Government Attempts Reset With Russia While Balancing Euro-Atlantic Aspirations
Georgia’s new government, led by 36-year-old Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, apparently intends to focus on improving trade and cultural contacts with Russia under its “Freedom, Rapid Development and Prosperity” program. In more conciliatory language that Moscow has heard in many years, on July 13 Bakhtadze... MORE

Hungary Seeks to Block Ukraine From Euro-Atlantic Integration Over Controversial Language Issue
On July 12, during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Brussels, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated that his country would not support Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership, because “Kyiv has not changed its policies toward national minorities.” He... MORE

Georgia Remains on Path to NATO
Four years ago, then–United States President Barack Obama famously stated that Georgia is not presently on the path to membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Civil Georgia, March 27, 2014). Nevertheless, Tbilisi persisted in its efforts to maintain ever-closer relations with the transatlantic... MORE

Trump’s Bombast in Brussels and London Will Not Help Putin in Helsinki
The culmination of United States President Donald Trump’s European tour occurs today (July 16), in Helsinki, at the anxiously anticipated but far-from-perfectly prepared meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump comes to the rendezvous carrying the baggage of old problems and new controversies (see EDM,... MORE

Revival of Pan-Turkism in Kazakhstan Threatens Pillars of Eurasian Union
The term “pan-Turkism,” which carried a similarly ominous meaning as “enemy of the people” under Joseph Stalin and his Soviet successors, has become a strong component of Kazakhs’ search for national identity ever since their country achieved independence more than a quarter of a century... MORE

A ‘Fantastic’ NATO Summit as a Possible Bargaining Chip in Trump’s Talks With Putin
After the end of the Cold War, both the East and the West agreed they were no longer enemies, and Russian delegations regularly visited summits of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The last such delegation attended NATO’s Chicago Summit, in 2012, though it was... MORE