Latest Articles about Foreign Policy

AKP Unable To Decide on Its Kurdish Policy

On November 2 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the eastern province of Hakkari to deliver a speech at a congress of his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) local branch. In Hakkari, where the Democratic Society Party (DTP) has a strong municipal presence, DTP... MORE

Moscow Summit on Karabakh Falls Short of Kremlin’s Goals

Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and Serge Sarkisian of Armenia met on November 2 near Moscow to discuss the current state of negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. With those negotiations moving slowly forward at several levels and on their own momentum,... MORE

EU Extends an Olive Branch to Belarusian Leaders

On October 13 the foreign ministers of the 27 member-states of the European Union met in Luxemburg and agreed to lift sanctions on travel for 36 high-ranking members of the Belarusian government, including President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, for a trial period of six months. The decision... MORE

The Geopolitics of Sino-Syrian Relations

Solidifying the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) burgeoning relationships with the countries of the Middle East remains a top priority for Beijing. The impetus behind China’s resurgent efforts to extend its influence within the Middle East stemmed from Beijing’s pursuit of energy resources to sustain... MORE

China’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Sino-Venezuela Relations

After inviting two Russian strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons to land in Caracas as part of a joint military maneuver—whose significance was downplayed by the Russian authorities—Caracas expelled U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy on September 11. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has since embarked on... MORE

China-Taiwan Join Hands to Exploit East China Sea Resources

At the upcoming second meeting between Chen Yunlin, president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARAT) in charge of handling cross-Strait negotiations, and Chiang Ping-kun, chairman of Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF), in October, official media in Taiwan and Hong Kong are... MORE

The East China Sea Dispute After Fukuda: Calmer Waters?

Taiwan has long taken Japan as an ally, both before and after severing diplomatic relations on September 29, 1972. Japan made great efforts to preventing Taiwan’s expulsion from the United Nations in 1971 even more so than the United States had, which was bound to... MORE

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Georgian Crisis

The Russian invasion, occupation, and dismemberment of Georgia represent the greatest challenge if not crisis to confront the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In American commentary on the SCO there has been a consistent tendency to view it as essentially or even merely an anti-American organization... MORE