Russian leaders have long held a deeply pessimistic view about Afghanistan’s future prospects as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) strategy there (Mil.ru, December 10, 2014). Indeed, late last year, Russian and Central Asian officials raised the possibility of reinforcing Russian army units... MORE

This week (October 20), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin. Russia began an aerial bombing campaign in Syria on September 30, to suppress the Syrian opposition forces, which Moscow and Damascus indiscriminately designate as... MORE

Israeli analyst Avraam Shmulevich has urged Ukrainian authorities to take a more pro-active approach to the situation in Russia. Shmulevich visited Ukraine to consult the newly created inter-party parliamentary group “Za Vilniy Kavkaz” (For a Free Caucasus). In an interview with a Ukrainian news agency,... MORE

In the last decade or so, Belarus’s relations with the West became popularly characterized as locked in a “vicious circle.” The term was widely used in diplomatic and expert communities to refer to the cyclical nature of the relationship that was, in turn, tied to... MORE

Russian foreign policy took an unexpected turn and suffered a serious setback last week when President Vladimir Putin suggested sending to Washington a delegation headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which was firmly turned down by the United States government. The initiative was poorly prepared,... MORE

During his speech addressing the United Nations General Assembly in late September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will take the lead in the creation of an 8,000-strong standby force for peacekeeping operations (FMPRC, September 29). Such a commitment will help cement Chinese military... MORE

At the beginning of his September official state visit to the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a group of U.S. political figures that “China and the United States should join hands to solve problems they both face to make the world turn better... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande have prevailed on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to accommodate pseudo-elections in the Russian-controlled territory into a special Ukrainian law. Poroshenko himself, and the Ukrainian body... MORE

A village whose people trace their roots back to the North Caucasus was among the first targets of the Russian air strikes in Syria. On September 30, the first day of the air strikes, Voice of America journalist Fatima Tlisova cited reports from Syrian sources... MORE

Despite Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s hopeful meeting, on October 4, with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, as well as Abe’s talks with President Vladimir Putin, at the United Nations, the week before (Kyodo, October 6), no prospect for normalizing Russo-Japanese relations currently exists.... MORE