Latest Articles about Foreign Policy

Kremlin Refuses to Tolerate Any Dissent Over Its Ukrainian Policy
Moscow is preparing to legalize the annexation of Crimea as soon as possible. A special constitutional amendment is being rushed through parliament. To enact a “constitutional law,” all regional legislatures of the Russian Federation must state their opinion, but since all of them are controlled... MORE

Foreign Policy Implications of Mongolian Crony Democracy
Though considered a healthy—albeit developing—democracy (https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/105158; https://www.santmaral.mn/en/publications), Mongolia has in recent years become dominated by the competing interests of its political and business factions, whose collective actions undermine the country’s democratization trends as well as complicate Ulaanbaatar’s foreign policy. For now, Mongolia resides in a... MORE

Implications of the Crimean Issue for the North Caucasus
On March 5, the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, called on the regions of the Russian Federation to support the residents of Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian regions adjacent to Russia. The parliamentarians called on the Russian regional officials to provide... MORE

From Alliance to Integration: The Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia Triangle
On February 19, 2014, the Third Session of the Trilateral Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey was held in Ganja (northwest Azerbaijan). After their ministerial—the first trilateral meeting following last year’s presidential elections in Azerbaijan and Georgia—the three sides adopted... MORE

Will ‘Dostumistan’ Be Established Near Afghanistan’s Border With Uzbekistan?
In January 2014, the chairman of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan party, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a well-known politician and leader of ethnic Uzbeks in Afghanistan, made unofficial visits to Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent, the Kazakhstani capital of Astana, and Almaty—Kazakhstan’s largest city. According... MORE

Russia Trashes US-Russian-British Memorandum on Ukraine
From day one of Russia’s assault on Ukraine (ongoing since February 27), Ukrainian government leaders, politicians and diplomats have continually invoked the 1994 Budapest Memorandum signed by Ukraine, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. That Memorandum is widely believed to provide security “guarantees”... MORE

Russia Puts Itself in Peril by Dismembering Ukraine
One unique feature of the still surging crisis in Ukraine is the intensity of high-level communications between the key parties to it—which should have eliminated the possibility of misunderstanding, but apparently has not. Last Friday night (March 7), United States President Barack Obama had yet... MORE

As Russia Tries to Dismember Ukraine, Georgia’s Fate Hangs in Balance, Too
On March 4, Stefan Fule, the European Union’s Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, came to Georgia on an official visit. He held high-level meetings with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze (Channel 1 TV, Rustavi 2,... MORE

Crimea Is Not the Endgame: Moscow Bent on Regime Change in Kyiv
On March 4, when President Vladimir Putin broke his public silence on events in Ukraine and Crimea, to many in Russia it seemed that the worst-case scenario of possible open hostilities and annexations was over. Crimea was, of course, occupied by Russian troops, but it... MORE

Symbolism over Substance: Sochi Showcases China-Russia Pragmatic Partnership
President Xi Jinping’s February 6–8 trip to the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi again shows how China uses symbolism to promote its pragmatic partnership with Russia. PRC rhetoric and actions suggest that Beijing considers relations with Russia important enough to warrant pursuing a variant of... MORE