Home

Archive - Aug 2012

Date

August 6th

NATO in South Caucasus: Pragmatism or Farewell to Illusions?

video

By Sergey Minasyan

A few years ago the subject of NATO’s role in regional policy in South Caucasus was one of the key within estimations and declarations of many politician, experts and reporters involved into the region. The August Russian-Georgian war of 2008, world financial-economic crisis, “Arab spring” and return of “classic” geopolitics into the region have changed the priority of perception of the North Atlantic Alliance in South Caucasus. NATO is already perceived by South Caucasian countries not the way as it was in the first part of 2000. In its turn Brussels also already not that ambitiously targets at South Caucasus. READ MORE

Belarus expels Swedish ambassador, EU weighs response

By Andrei Makhovsky, Foo Yun Chee

Belarus has expelled Sweden’s ambassador over his actions to support democracy, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Friday, as the European Union’s foreign policy chief said the bloc would consider responding with “appropriate” measures. READ MORE

August 3rd

U.S. wants to use Manas airport after 2014, but may also look to neighbouring countries

video

The United States would like to extend its agreement with Kyrgyzstan on the use of Manas airport for the delivery of goods to Afghanistan after 2014, CA-NEWS reports. However, Washington does not exclude the possibility that it will have to look for another hub in one of the neighbouring countries, assistant U.S. Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, ITAR-TASS reported. READ MORE

Twenty years ago: the birth of NATO’s crisis-management role

Twenty years ago, in July 1992, NATO started taking on a limited crisis-management role in support of international efforts to end the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Within a few years, the Alliance was called upon to play a more robust role: it deployed its first ever peace-support operation to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and later intervened to end the crisis in Kosovo in 1999. NATO’s involvement in stabilising the Western Balkans has played a key role in the transformation of the Alliance after the end of the Cold War. READ MORE

New Lithuanian National Security Strategy

By Vadim Volovoj, expert of the Centre for Geopolitical Studies

On 26 June the Lithuanian Seimas approved draft National Security Strategy. “This is a much more realistic Strategy: the evaluation of Lithuania’s security environment in the current Strategy is rather “euphoric”, whereas in the new draft this evaluation is more careful", said Rasa Juknevičienė, the minister of national defense while presenting a draft Strategy to the Seimas. READ MORE

August 1st

Baltic States and Finland urge EU to note increasing flows of immigrants from Russia

The Baltic states and Finland have approached the European Commission (EC) with a call for a proper response to the growing flows of immigrants from Eastern neighbors, mainly Russia, whose citizens may be granted visa-free travels in the future. READ MORE

Opinion: Romania needs a fresh start

video

By Robert Schwartz

Romanian President Basescu remains in office. The referendum failed to get the required 50 percent turnout. But despite that victory, DW's Robert Schwartz argues Basescu should step aside and make way for new talent. READ MORE

Turkmenistan’s Gas Export Potential: New Implications for Europe

By Vladimir Socor

BP’s latest annual Statistical Review of World Energy has revealed Turkmenistan’s proven gas reserves as even bigger than previously assessed (see accompanying article). From Ashgabat’s perspective, European gas markets must look more lucrative and reliable compared with Turkmenistan’s existing export markets in China, Russia, and Iran (let alone the proposed trans-Afghan export route). The westward direction remains the only missing direction for Turkmenistani gas exports. Turkmenistan has started construction of the East-West pipeline, to run from its eastern gas fields to the Caspian coast, there to connect with a westbound trans-Caspian pipeline. Ashgabat proposes to deliver 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually through this line, and another 10 bcm annually from its Caspian offshore fields, for onward transportation to Europe after 2016. Turkmenistan plans to finance the overland pipeline from its own budget, but is running into problems with funding and subcontracting some of the work. READ MORE