In October, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared his goal of establishing a Eurasian Union, scorned by some as a “Soviet Union-lite,” the more sycophantic among post-Soviet leaders jumped over each other to sign up. READ MORE

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, highlighted the progress achieved at the Vilnius Ministerial Council and urged the 56 OSCE participating States to build on the decisions taken and address the challenges raised at the meeting, which concluded today. READ MORE

On November 8, the Polish and German foreign ministers, Radoslaw Sikorski and Guido Westerwelle, issued a joint letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and representatives of other member states calling on the EU to revamp its relationship with Russia. While hard to imagine just a few years ago, the joint penning of the letter represents a milestone in the two countries’ common policy toward Moscow. READ MORE

The last remaining hurdle to Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) now appears to have been cleared, as Russia’s chief WTO negotiator, Maxim Medvedekov, announced on November 3 that Moscow has accepted a last-minute membership compromise. Thus, Russia has taken another significant step away from the closed, Soviet type centrally planned economy and toward full integration into the international community. READ MORE

Ensuring security in the OSCE region requires further efforts to tackle transnational threats, prevent and resolve conflicts, and engage meaningfully with partners in the Mediterranean and Asia, foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE participating States heard at the start of the 18th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius today. In the meeting, Ministers discussed the need to reinforce the OSCE's efforts in all of these areas, with a view to realizing the common vision of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community. READ MORE

With the Russian threat to cut land routes for supply to Nato troops in Afghanistan, the Afghan battleground may turn into a cold deathtrap for Nato, defence analysts believe. They say that Pakistan should utilise the opportunity for a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan by pulling it out of the American war. READ MORE

Europeans better agree with its Eastern partners on a bilateral basis than on behalf of the whole EU. The example is Bulgaria, which really, as Bulgarian President Georgy Pyrvanov reported, showed Europe how it is possible to deal with Azerbaijan. READ MORE

President Dalia Grybauskaitė attended the meeting of Presidents of the Baltic States in Estonia. Discussing the goals and new challenges of the Baltic States the Presidents underlined that energy security and the ending of energy isolation of the region was currently a key priority for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. READ MORE

Valdai Club.com interview with Sergey Aleksashenko, Macroeconomic Research Director of the National Research University – Higher School of Economics.   READ MORE

The United States and China could be considered the two super powers, but one is dealing with the financial crisis and seeks to keep its dominant position in global politics, and the other pursues economic growth and expands its military power. This impression occurred during the summer discussions in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, when budget deficit problems were solved by raising the U.S. debt ceiling by several trillions dollars, and when the ratings agency Standard & Poor‘s downgraded the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from its top rank AAA. China criticized the economic policy pursued by the White House. READ MORE