Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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Will the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars Railway Become Uzbekistan’s New Connection to Europe?
On September 27, the head of Azerbaijani Railways Company, Javid Gurbanov, along with his Georgian and Turkish counterparts, Mamuka Bakhtadze and Ahmad Arslan, respectively, attended the first test run by a passenger train along a section of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway, from the Georgian capital... MORE
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Moscow Treats New US Strategy for Iran as Great Opportunity
The decision of United States President Donald Trump not to certify the fact that Iran is duly implementing the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had been expected, so all international political responses were carefully measured. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for... MORE
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Changing Face of Governance in Dagestan or New Security Challenge for Moscow and the Region?
Russian President Vladimir Putin named Vladimir Vasilyev acting head of the Republic of Dagestan, on October 3, replacing Ramazan Abdulatipov, who had resigned a week earlier (Kremlin.ru, October 3). Until now, Vasiliyev served as the deputy head of the State Duma and was the parliamentary... MORE
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Moscow Bribes Bishkek to Stop Kyrgyzstan From Changing to Latin Alphabet
Kyrgyzstan is not the poorest post-Soviet state, but it is the recipient of more Russian money than any other (Turantoday.com, October 11). And Moscow’s payments appear to have purchased at least one thing Moscow very much wants: Bishkek has put off for perhaps two decades... MORE
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Arms and the King in Saudi-Russian Relations
Vladimir Putin described Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s visit to Moscow as “momentous” (see EDM, October 10; RIA Novosti, October 5); and it certainly was. In similar fashion, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented that the Saudi monarch’s visit constituted a “turning point in... MORE
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Russia Is Steered Back Toward Petro-Stagnation
The “historic” trip of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud to Moscow, last week (October 4–7) was an affair long on ceremony, featuring a massive delegation, but rather uncertain regarding the real results. The first ever royal visit (which had been rescheduled several times) was... MORE
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Closer Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan Ties Not Enough to Resolve Broader Regional Woes
The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid an official visit to Uzbekistan in mid-September, highlighting improving relations between Central Asia’s two largest states. There, he met with his Uzbekistani counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyaev, for the sixth time since the latter took office last December, following the... MORE
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New US Ambassador Arrives in Moscow Amidst Worst Bilateral Relations Since 2014
Veteran career diplomat Ambassador John Tefft (68), who was pulled out of retirement to man the United States’ Moscow mission in 2014, following the acute crisis precipitated by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the onset of the war in the Donbas, left the Russian capital... MORE
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What Are the Limits to Belarus’s Sovereignty?
The joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 war games, which ran during September 14–20, inspired a wide-ranging debate about the nature and geopolitical realities of Belarusian statehood and independence. Thus, according to the Belarusian military analyst Alexander Alesin, the Kremlin had evinced utmost irritation with Minsk because,... MORE
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Moscow Still Investing in Venezuela
Despite the multiplicity of major and urgent international crises around the globe, Russia still finds time to invest its political resources in Venezuela’s long-running collapse. Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, today (October 4), in Moscow, to discuss... MORE