Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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Hu’s State Visit Exposes Rift in Chinese Foreign Policy
While President Hu Jintao’s state visit to the United States fell short on deliverables such as a speedier pace of appreciation of the renminbi, both leaderships have bolstered high-level exchange mechanisms that could minimize mishaps due to misperceptions and miscalculations. The Joint Statement issued after... MORE
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Karimov’s Brussels Visit Full of Controversy
President Islam Karimov’s visit to Brussels has raised fresh criticism of the EU and NATO’s double standards vis-à-vis the Uzbek leader. The visit was full of ambiguity: both the EU and NATO denied that the Uzbek president was officially invited, yet he met both the... MORE
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Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Referendum: Western Questions, Kazakh Answers (Part One)
Kazakhstan’s term as the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had not quite ended, when a civic initiative group proposed in mid-December 2010 to prolong President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s term as head of state until 2020, by means of a constitutional... MORE
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Russia Faces Multiple Terrorist Threats
The Domodedovo airport bombing on January 24, that left 35 dead, including the alleged suicide bomber and more than 100 injured – Russians and foreigners – has overshadowed other important political events: the final ratification of the START III arms control treaty by both houses... MORE
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France, Russia Sign Mistral Agreement
“Paris is well-worth a [Catholic] mass” (“Paris vaut-bien une messe”), King Henri IV, a Protestant, remarked when told that his attendance at a Catholic Church service was the price for his acceptance by the Parisians. That remark is recorded as the epitome of crass political... MORE
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Turkey and Russia Move Closer to Visa-Free Travel
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, visited Turkey in order to attend the talks between Iran and the P5+1. Prior to the start of the talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, Lavrov held crucial meetings with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, on bilateral relations as well... MORE
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Russia Prepares to Re-Enter Afghanistan
Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, received the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, on January 21-23 for an official visit. It was the first Russian-Afghan presidential-level meeting since a freshly installed Karzai had met the then President Putin in 2002. Russia is now... MORE
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Tajikistan Cedes Disputed Land to China
Tajikistan has agreed to cede a fraction of its territory to neighboring China in a bid to settle a border dispute that dates back more than a century. On January 12, the lower house of the Tajik parliament voted to ratify the 2002 border demarcation... MORE
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Medvedev Attempts to Rally Support in Davos for Russia’s “Modernization”
The privilege of addressing the opening session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is valued highly by the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, who interprets this as international recognition of the business correctness of his “modernization” course. Following today’s bombing of Domodedovo airport in... MORE
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Russian Black Sea Fleet Strengthens Presence in Ukraine
The Russian Navy plans to increase its presence on Ukrainian territory by adding urban infrastructure and civilian manpower to its naval assets in Sevastopol. The command of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet intends to build a housing estate (“mikrorayon”) for 20,000 personnel of the fleet, their... MORE