Emboldened by international tolerance of its seizure of Moldovan territory in 1992 (see Part One in  EDM, September 15), but still unable to muster support on the state level within the CIS, Russia experimented with “collective” peacekeeping at the sub-state level against Georgia in South... MORE

From September 7 to September 10, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan led a delegation of senior government officials and business leaders to hold the Fourth UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue. This trip is just one of the many high profile visits Chinese central leadership have... MORE

As China has become the world’s second largest economy, its demand for energy has caused it to become the world’s biggest comprehensive energy consumer. Accompanying this process has been a sharp upward trend in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) focused on energy and other resources.... MORE

With the summer winding down along with the tensions in the South China Sea, China engaged the principle disputants of this round of regional tensions. China hosted Philippine President Benigno Aquino III for a five-day state visit beginning August 30. In Beijing, Chinese and Vietnamese... MORE

Armenia appears to be edging closer to formally annulling its Western-backed normalization agreements with Turkey because of Ankara’s refusal to ratify them before a resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan indicated on August 30 that the Turkish government has just a few... MORE

Events are moving rapidly in Belarus. The president is making more and more concessions in an effort to restore relations with the West, evidently in the hope that assistance and loans will then be forthcoming for his beleaguered regime.In late August, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai... MORE

The EU is sending contradictory signals toward its Eastern Neighborhood, which indicates it has not learnt its lessons from dealing with Belarus. The EU continues to talk tough about not dealing with Minsk, because of its political prisoners, while refusing to use this same term... MORE

During his meetings with President Dmitry Medvedev on August 24, Kim-Jong Il reportedly agreed to resume the six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear weapons without preconditions; if the talks take place, he would then impose a moratorium on nuclear testing and production of (unspecified) nuclear... MORE

As winter approaches, the Ukraine-Russia gas price talks have been deadlocked, increasing the likelihood of a repetition of the “gas wars” of 2006 and 2009. Ukrainian officials pledged to avoid this but the situation is serious, with both sides firmly standing their ground. Ukraine repeatedly... MORE

Russian policy makers are in the process of defining conditions under which the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) might intervene to maintain political and civil order within member countries other than Russia (Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). In practice, any CSTO interventions could... MORE