The Kremlin blindsided U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with unexpected challenges during her October 13-14 Moscow visit, her first to Russia in that official capacity. The Russian side distorted the agenda previously agreed with Washington and frustrated U.S. goals across the board. Moscow timed... MORE

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Moscow this week in an effort to promote the “reset” in Russian-American relations, to secure collaboration on Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea, and offer the Kremlin ballistic missile defense cooperation and nuclear arms control agreements. However, for... MORE

Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols on October 10 that were in preparation since February of this year (EDM, February 10, March 27, April 9, May 14, May 18, October 7). Under the agreement, Turkey and Armenia will establish diplomatic relations and re-open their border.... MORE

Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid an official visit to France on October 7-9 to attend the celebrations as part of the Season of Turkey, which served as a venue to re-evaluate the current condition of Turkish-French relations, and induce a new degree of economic rationalism... MORE

On October 6 the French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Astana on a state visit and met his counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. During his one day visit he also held talks with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev and the Minister of Economics and Budget Planning Bakhyt... MORE

Since last month, the Kyrgyz public has been able to watch China’s CCTV channel broadcasting in the Russian language. For now, the channel broadcasts only in Bishkek. But the Chinese government is ready to invest in digital receivers for the southern parts of Kyrgyzstan, in... MORE

Authorities in Tiraspol are watching the political deadlock in Chisinau with barely concealed satisfaction. Moldova’s political and constitutional crisis since April has further deepened the freeze on both tracks of negotiations on the Transnistria conflict: the international 5+2 format and the bilateral right bank –... MORE

The IMF and World Bank annual summit in Istanbul have ended after seven days of meetings and seminars. During the meetings the policy-steering International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), asked the IMF to address four key reform areas –the IMF’s mandate, its financing role, multilateral... MORE

Until 2005, Chinese public perceptions of India were generally benign, even bordering on benign neglect. Yet, a radical change in Chinese public attitudes toward India has noticeably taken place since then and it can be attributed in part to an increasing number of Chinese strategic... MORE