On November 8, the European Commission made the historic recommendation to award EU candidate status to Georgia (Ec.europa.eu, November 8). The final decision to officially grant that status will be made on December 14 and 15. This development is an important step for EU expansion... MORE

The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the expanded war has pulled some of the Kremlin’s attention to the Middle East and North Africa (see EDM, October 16, 18). The conflict gives fresh impetus to Russia’s interest in establishing a stronger foothold in... MORE

On October 26 and 27, Tbilisi hosted the fourth annual Silk Road Forum. The forum brought together about 2,000 guests from 60 countries to discuss global economic challenges and prospects for cooperation (Report.az,  October 26). International interest in the event skyrocketed after Russia’s full-scale invasion... MORE

Few prospects worry Moscow more than a potential reduction of tensions between the United States and China. Such a development, even if half-hearted and temporary, would threaten a curtailment of Beijing’s support for Russia in the international arena—at least from Moscow’s perspective. The Asia-Pacific Economic... MORE

Observers assessed the outcome of the first round of Argentina’s presidential elections held on October 22 as good news for the Chinese government (VOA, October 26). Against the odds, Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate and current minister of economy, emerged on top, despite his overseeing... MORE

On November 7, the chief designer for Russia’s manned space systems, Vladimir Solovyov, proclaimed that the planned Russian Orbital Station (ROS) “will have a service life of 50 years” (TASS, November 7). The failure of the Luna-25 mission to the Moon and limited finances have... MORE

Mongolia is currently updating the country’s national security concept, and managing relations with Russia and China remains foundational (Ikon, September 27). At the end of October, Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping met on the... MORE

On November 3, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid a visit to Astravets, the site of Belarus’s nuclear power plant located 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) from the Lithuanian border (President.gov.by, November 3). The visit was arranged in concert with Russian energy corporation Rosatom completing the... MORE

On November 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the bill officially withdrawing Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Putin’s move is designed to restore parity in nuclear arms control commitments with the United States, which has never ratified the treaty. The document signed... MORE

As Russian military and financial resources are being ground down in Avdiivka and Kupyansk, Moscow has struggled to maintain progress in some of its wider foreign policy objectives (Ukrinform, November 2). Some of these are a revival of Soviet-era goals, including a greater military, political,... MORE