On September 6–8, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to Kazakhstan, amid his ten-day journey across Central Asia that had previously taken him to Turkmenistan where gas production at the world’s second-largest gas field was inaugurated. Xi Jinping’s visit to the Kazakhstani capital... MORE

Considerable international media attention on the Syria crisis focused on the apparently deft handling of the diplomatic track by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Yet, Russian diplomacy, which succeeded in presenting Moscow as a critical player in the pursuit of a non-military option against Damascus, also... MORE

Several days ago (September 10), reconstruction and expansion works at the Verkhny Lars border checkpoint were completed. The checkpoint, located in Georgia’s Kazbegi district on the highway historically known as the Georgian Military Road, is the only legally functioning border crossing between Russia and Georgia.... MORE

During the last week (see EDM, September 12), the diplomatic dance around Syria has acquired the intensity of a whirling dervish, but the civil war continues very much as usual. This disconnect answers perfectly the ambitions of President Vladimir Putin, who has managed to make... MORE

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats over taking unsanctioned visits to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, saying this contradicts international law. Many governmental agencies in Baku have stated that such visits, made without prior notification of the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are... MORE

The prime minister of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail Myasnikovich, led a large delegation September 3–5, on the first state visit to Mongolia since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1992. The Mongolian government treated the visit as high level, and media coverage was... MORE

The Belarusian-Russian potassium (potash) war has undergone several new developments. First, it appears that Uralkalii, a Russian potash producer that, in late July, left the joint Russian-Belarusian trader, Belarusian Potassium Company (BPC) (see EDM August 5, September 4), has insured its “management responsibility” risk. Its... MORE

Moscow was elated by the success of an unexpected diplomatic initiative this week on Syria that has postponed indefinitely a seemingly inevitable military assault by the United States. The strike would have been aimed at punishing the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for using... MORE

The leaders of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have spent the summer in discussion and negotiation over the Party's China policy, trying to establish a consensus on one of the central issues of Taiwanese politics. These negotiations, taking place in the party's newly-revived China Affairs... MORE

China is doubling down on its hydrocarbon resource development in the East China Sea. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) wants to double overall oil and gas production to 100 million metric tons per year by 2020 (Petroleum Economist, October 2012). CNOOC’s first licensing... MORE