This set of essays takes China Brief away from current events, looking ahead at some of the key questions facing analysts in the coming year. The authors—Dennis Blasko, Bruce Gilley, Willy Lam, and Robert Sutter—highlight some of the dynamic tensions at work in China and... MORE

Although the newly-elected Kyrgyz President, Almazbek Atambayev, received significant Kremlin support in the run up to last year’s elections, Turkey was his first formal destination as the head of state. During a meeting with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Atambayev invited Turkey, along... MORE

As Turkey struggles to avert crises involving its neighbors Syria and Iran, Iraq has emerged as yet another issue that needs immediate attention from Turkish diplomacy. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s recent remarks critical of what he considered to be Ankara’s “interference” in Iraqi internal... MORE

Senior US officials have sounded remarkably optimistic about the conduct of Armenia’s forthcoming parliamentary elections, which President Serzh Sargsyan will try to use as a launch pad for winning a second term in office in 2013. Highlighting Washington’s overall satisfaction with the current authorities in... MORE

On January 8, a Russian aircraft carrier group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov made a short visit to the Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia has maintained a small naval supply base since the Cold War. The Kuznetsov had sailed from Severomorsk, near Murmansk, on... MORE

Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, paid a crucial visit to Tehran on January 6, amidst the increasing confrontation between Iran and the West. The visit mainly provided an opportunity to address bilateral issues, as it followed a heated debate in recent months which questions whether... MORE

President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly losing the support of the Circassian community many of whose members serve in his army and police. Such is the case of Yaser Ali Abaza, a Syrian Circassian lieutenant who, in a video posted to the Internet on December 29,... MORE

The signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in June 2010 signified landmark progress in cross-Strait rapprochement, which began in May 2008 when the Kuomingtang (KMT) came into power after eight years of being the opposition party in... MORE

The EU’s refusal to initial the Association Agreement (which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement) at the December 19, 2011, EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv was a geopolitical setback. Initialing is a technical stage meaning that the negotiations are completed. The second stage is... MORE

The association agreement with the EU comprising a free trade agreement was not signed or initialed at the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on December 19. EU Council President Herman van Rompuy only formally announced that talks on the agreement were completed. He and European Commission... MORE