Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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China and the SCO: Dead Wood but a Good Platform
In the week before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Bishkek on September 12, Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping visited four countries on China’s western flank—Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan—and met their presidents. In between these visits, Xi attended the G20 summit in Moscow... MORE
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Political Scandal in Taiwan Good Reason to Focus on Opposition’s Plans
With Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou’s approval ratings at record lows following another scandal—one poll held in late September show that only 9.2% of Taiwanese voters approved of his administration—it is more likely than ever that the opposition will win the 2014 “seven in one” elections,... MORE
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China Pushes “Silk Road” Regional Trade on Two Fronts
China’s top two leaders went to Southeast Asia last week with a message of regional economic integration, promising to build a “maritime silk road” (haishang sichou zhi lu) across the South China Sea (China News Service, October 3; Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, October 9).... MORE
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Moscow Sees an Echo of Pre-War Prometheanism in Crimea
Moscow has always been extremely sensitive to any indication that the Polish government or Polish organizations are expanding their influence in the post-Soviet space through the support of ethnic minorities in what Russian commentators invariably see as a reprise of the Promethean League program of... MORE
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Moldova Hands Over Chisinau International Airport to Russian Business in Exclusive, Non-Transparent Deal (Part One)
Moldova’s governing Pro-Europe Coalition is handing Chisinau International Airport over to the Komaks company from Khabarovsk, eastern Siberia, in association with a company belonging to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska. The Khabarovsk company is headed by a “former” officer of the KGB and the Federal Security... MORE
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Uzbekistan Resists Falling Under Russia’s Economic Hegemony
In an unexpected move, Uzbekistan signed an agreement on joining the Russia-driven Free Trade Zone (FTZ) of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on May 31, 2013. The agreement, seen as a precursor to more serious regional integration, such as joining the Customs Union and... MORE
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Russia and the Moldovan Communists’ Red October (Part Two)
Last month, the Kremlin snapped its fingers and Armenia turned its back on Europe literally overnight, choosing to join the Russia-led Customs Union instead of concluding association and free-trade agreements with the European Union (see EDM, September 6, 11, 18). The Russian government is almost... MORE
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Chinese Investment in Kyrgyzstan Hampered by Unstable Business Climate
A joint declaration on strategic partnership was among several agreements that were signed following talks in Bishkek between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kyrgyz Republic counterpart, Almazbek Atambaev, on September 11. Atambaev told reporters that the signed documents also include agreements on Chinese... MORE
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Geostrategic Interest and Democracy Promotion: The Contrasting Cases of Belarus and Ukraine
A seemingly perpetual tension between Western universalism on human rights and down-to-earth geopolitics has no single resolution. With regard to Belarus, human rights remain preeminent albeit with the exception of the 2007–2010 period, during which a rapprochement between Brussels and Minsk was underway. But in... MORE
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Russia Accelerates ‘Borderization’ in Georgia on War’s 20th Anniversary
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Abkhazia’s authorities on the 20th anniversary of “the republic’s independence.” The anniversary marks the Abkhazian proclamation of independence in 1993, as Sukhumi fell to Russian military forces. “This holiday is a symbol of... MORE