Latest Articles about Foreign Policy

‘Black Friday’ Sanctions Against Putin’s Inner Circle
The fact that, last Friday (April 6), the United States Department of the Treasury published a new list of severe sanctions targeting Russian businessmen, officials and companies came as no great shock—rumors about that looming punishment had been swirling around Moscow for weeks. The surprise... MORE

Can China Realize Africa’s Dream of an East-West Transport Link?
African development hinges on a maddening paradox: its greatest asset—the sheer size and diversity of its landscape—is also the greatest barrier to its development. Landlocked countries are cut off from ports, and the difficulty of moving goods from country to country weighs down intra-continental trade... MORE

Sino-Nepali Relations: Scaling New Heights
In his very first interview after taking office in February 2018, new Nepali Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli said his government would seek to revive a US$2.5 billion Sino-Nepali hydropower project on the Budhi Gandaki River (South China Morning Post, February 19). The project’s fate... MORE

Azerbaijan, Iran Reach Breakthrough on Disputed Fields in the Caspian Sea
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid an official visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, on March 28. During the visit, Azerbaijan and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on joint development of offshore hydrocarbon fields in the Caspian Sea (President.az, March 28). Remarkably, the names of the fields... MORE

Russia Develops a New Ideology for a New Cold War
It has become increasingly common to proclaim the present standoff between Russia and the West as a “new cold war,” and one possibly worse and potentially more dangerous than the first because of a lack of agreed rules of play or crisis management. But until... MORE

Latvia Defends Its Language Law Despite Massive Russian Pressure
Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis announced new amendments to the set of education laws regulating the transition of all secondary education (high school) within the country into the official state language—Latvian. The system of bilingual high school education is thus set to end by 2022 (Diena.lv,... MORE

Southern Gas Corridor Raises Significant Financing, but Still Faces Provocations
On February 6 and March 15, the European Investment Bank (EIB) allocated loan packages of €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) and €932 million ($1.14 billion) to complete the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor’s (SGC) two main segments, which will carry Caspian-basin natural gas from Azerbaijan... MORE

Russia’s Long-Term Agreement With OPEC: A Temptation Moscow Might Resist
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman stated, on March 26, that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is considering signing a new long-term agreement with Russia and other non-OPEC members. This accord that would allow the group to control prices on the international... MORE

Russia Escalates Novichok Crisis, Shifting Onus to US
Moscow announced last week (March 29) that 60 American diplomats would be expelled, delivering a “mirror” response to every Western country that had sanctioned Russia in solidarity with the United Kingdom (see EDM, March 29). What appeared to be a tit-for-tat response in a diplomatic... MORE

The Kremlin Strategy in Baikonur: Putting Kazakhstan’s Space Program in a Box?
Russia has pledged to transfer 44.8 square miles of Baikonur Cosmodrome territory and two Zenit-M rocket launch platforms to Kazakhstan by the end of May 2018 (Izvestia, March 1). This became possible thanks to the recent amendments to the lease agreement between the two countries,... MORE