U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul, long an advocate of democracy in Russia, arrived in Moscow two months ago, and he walked straight into a groundswell of anti-Americanism. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was running for president and his supporters accused the new ambassador of supporting anti-Putin street protests. Putin won the election easily three weeks ago, and now McFaul talks about where he thinks U.S.-Russia relations go from here. READ MORE

The strong relations between Azerbaijan and the United States are very important for both countries’ national and energy security. Both countries need to understand the importance of cooperation and need to take action to reinforce relations with each other. READ MORE

The protests in Afghanistan over the burning of copies of the Quran confiscated from detainees at Bagram Airfield have led to more than two dozen deaths, and have severely — perhaps even permanently — undermined the United States’ determined efforts to win hearts and minds in the country. The killing of NATO troops by members of Afghanistan’s security forces, or militants in their uniforms, is a dangerous new trend, and one that severely complicates relations between international security forces and their local hosts. It may now be time to consider new strategies by which to achieve U.S. and Western goals in Afghanistan. READ MORE

Simply put, China has three core strategic interests. READ MORE

Heavy winter conditions have strained natural gas supplies in Turkey, shedding critical light on the country’s over reliance on hydrocarbons. Due to the record increases in household consumption and electricity demand, which coincided with interruptions in gas imports from Iran and Azerbaijan, concerns were raised as to whether Ankara’s current contracts meet its actual demand, and how this will affect its future energy policies. READ MORE

International nuclear agency IAEA should play central role READ MORE

The upcoming high-level meeting of Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Barack Obama at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul will further strengthen the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States, according to Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the U.S. READ MORE