A state visit to India by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in late May this year has taken on more importance in the wake of an unusual combination of diplomatic openness and military tension between China and India. Li's visit was not only the first ever... MORE

On July 1, the Georgian government unilaterally revoked the 45-day visa-free travel rules with Iran (www.iveroni.com.ge, July 3). Georgia implemented a visa-free regime with Iran in January 2011, under President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration. Although, the step increased the number of Iranian visitors in Georgia from... MORE

On July 1, in Astana, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron signed a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Britain and Kazakhstan. A large business delegation accompanied Cameron. He became the first serving British prime minister to visit Kazakhstan, although... MORE

In his play “Tuteishiya” (Locals), Janka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus’s most famous poet and playwright, depicts two characters that are mirror reflections of each other. Whereas the Western Scientist speaks Polish and claims that “so-called Belarus” is in fact Poland, the Eastern Scientist speaks Russian and... MORE

Edward Snowden, the contractor who worked as a systems administrator at a United States National Security Agency (NSA) facility in Hawaii, apparently flew into Moscow from Hong Kong on Sunday, June 23, and had a ticket booked to fly Aeroflot to Havana on June 24,... MORE

The leaders of the several-million-strong Crimean Tatar diaspora community in Turkey are increasingly focusing on Crimea. This trend encourages Crimean Tatars living in Crimea to conclude that they have an important political ally in their Turkish compatriots, who are slowing the assimilation trends inside Turkey.... MORE

The Barack Obama Administration’s first-term “reset” of the United States’ relations with Russia set in motion a trend in Europe. A number of European governments have adapted the US-Russia “reset” model to their specific situations, initiating similar processes bilaterally with Russia. In Western Europe, such... MORE

The Xi Jinping leadership is embarking on an ambitious and all-rounded diplomacy that official Chinese commentators have called large-scale or high-powered diplomacy (dawaijiao). Its essence, according to the Xinhua News Agency, is “taking relations with big powers as crucial; giving priority to [China’s] neighbors; treating... MORE

Following the Philippines 2013 General Election, President Benigno Aquino III’s position is strengthened for the second half of his single six-year term. On May 13, Filipino voters elected Aquino allies in nine of the twelve contested Senate seats, where his allies now control 13 of... MORE

Second Thomas Shoal, a low tide coral reef located 105 nautical miles from the Philippines’ Palawan Island, is likely to become the next flashpoint in the South China Sea. The shoal—which is 15 kilometers long and five kilometers wide and is known as Ayungin in... MORE