August 31st
Limited Priority of the European Union Partnership
The “Eastern Partnership” Summit to be held in September 29th-30th in Warsaw should significantly revive this project due to the increase of financing and specification of programs. In particular, they express hopes for successful finalization of talks on the agreement on Association of Ukraine and the EU. In practice this should mean the announcement about finalization of talks on the Association of Ukraine and the EU, as well as sounding new offers for the projects’ participating states: Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. These offers should cover significant increase in project financing or concentration of funds for specific programs. An important issue within the frameworks of “Eastern Partnership” should be the relaxation of visa regime of the EU with the member-states of the project. READ MORE
Massive uranium deposits found in Andhra Pradesh
Potentiality of the area is huge; it will be one of the top 20 of the world's reserves: Atomic Minerals Directorate. READ MORE
August 29th
Israeli-Arab Crisis Approaching
In September, the U.N. General Assembly will vote on whether to recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state with full rights in the United Nations. In many ways, this would appear to be a reasonable and logical step. Whatever the Palestinians once were, they are clearly a nation in the simplest and most important sense — namely, they think of themselves as a nation. Nations are created by historical circumstances, and those circumstances have given rise to a Palestinian nation. Under the principle of the United Nations and the theory of the right to national self-determination, which is the moral foundation of the modern theory of nationalism, a nation has a right to a state, and that state has a place in the family of nations. In this sense, the U.N. vote will be unexceptional. READ MORE
August 26th
Libya After Gadhafi: Transitioning from Rebellion to Rule
With the end of the Gadhafi regime seemingly in sight, it is an opportune time to step back and revisit one of the themes we discussed at the beginning of the crisis: What comes after the Gadhafi regime? READ MORE
The balance of threats
The proposed placement of U.S. missile defense base in Europe has been a thorn in the reset of relations. From the Russia point of view, there has been a distinct lack of progress in achieving agreement on missile defense plans, between Russia on one hand and United States and NATO on the other. The last round of negotiations in Brussels raised questions about the prospects for achieving a mutually acceptable agreement on this pressing topic. READ MORE
Envoy Accuses Gazprom of 'Damaging' Iranian People
Iran's ambassador to Moscow on Wednesday assailed Gazprom Neft for a "delay" in developing the country's oil reserves, as fewer energy investors remain committed to cooperating with Tehran. READ MORE
August 24th
Why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is Important
When the SCO emerged at the turn of the century, Western observers worried that its key founders, Russia and China, plotted an anti-NATO bloc. It turns out, however, that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s primary objective is to keep the status-quo in Eurasia. READ MORE
A new page in Indo-Pakistani relations?
In the run-up to their respective independence days, India and Pakistan have renewed peace and security talks. But while people on both sides deeply desire peace, there still remains a deep mistrust at the political and military level. READ MORE
August 22nd
Kazakh OIC Presidency Contributes to Establishing Relief Fund for Somalia
A common relief fund of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries will be established on Kazakhstan’s initiative to help the Somali people on the edge of a food crisis. This was announced on August 17 by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister and Chairman of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) Yerzhan Kazykhanov, following an OIC emergency meeting in Istanbul, during which member-countries discussed ways to resolve the humanitarian and political crisis in Somalia. READ MORE