‘Kyrgyz question’ will become one of the central ones at December’s OSCE Summit in Astana? READ MORE

One of the most important achievements of Kazakhstan during the years of independence is its election to be the first state in the CIS, Asia, Muslim and Turkic world to chair the OSCE. Our country managed to organize the OSCE Summit on December 1-2 this year in Astana. This event will give a new impetus to the activity of the Organization after 11-year pause in top-level meetings. READ MORE

The current situation in Serbia mirrors that of post-WW I Germany and threatens to re-focus international attention on the region, writes Marko Papic, an analyst for Stratfor, a global intelligence company based in the US. READ MORE

Trend interviews the Austrian ambassador to Azerbaijan Sylvia Meyer Kaibic on the eve of Austria's National Holiday - October 26 READ MORE

How a Polish investment in a Lithuanian oil refinery went bad and raised Russia's ire. READ MORE

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which today is more formal than actually operating organization, was established after the fall of the Soviet Union. The initiator of this political alliance was Moscow. Its initial idea was actively supported by Ukraine and Belarus, several former soviet republics joined CIS later. Russia did not want to release its former „sisters“ from the sphere of influence, whereas the size of CIS should have solved the disagreements which emerged after the collapse of USSR. READ MORE

As is known, the Kingdom of Belgium is an administrative and political centre of Europe where the headquarters of the European Union, EU Council,  European Parliament, NATO and other international organizations are located. In the second half of 2010 Belgium assumed the office of the EU Council presiding country. For Kazakhstan, as the OSCE chairing country, development of the relations with the state where the major European institutes are located is an important priority in its foreign policy.On the threshold of the official visit of the Kazakh President to Belgium scheduled for October 25-26, Kazinform publishes an interview with Director General of the Royal Institute for International Relations Marc Trenteseau who gave his own evaluation to the Kazakh-Belgian bilateral relations and chairmanship of our country in the OSCE. READ MORE

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany have had their differences over the years, but on one thing they appear to agree: if Europe wants to remain relevant in the world and maintain peace in its own backyard, it needs Russia.

  READ MORE

Political relationships still have time to cement. READ MORE

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė forwarded a welcome address to participants of the Seimas sitting dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and to Lithuania's upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE. READ MORE

In the end of September Ukraine raised an important issue during the UNO General Assembly – who will guarantee the security of non-nuclear states? Which is the point to strive for neutrality if it will result into vulnerability? In this respect “Politcom.ru” asked the experts the following question: how do you assess the possibility of the signing of an international treaty that would guarantee the security of Ukraine and other states, which refused of its nuclear potential and/or which are not included into international military blocks? READ MORE

Given its rapid and successful development, there can be no doubt that the People’s Republic of China will become one of the dominant global powers of the twenty-first century. Indeed, despite the massive problems that the country is confronting, it could even emerge as the global power. READ MORE

For centuries we have used maps to delineate borders that have been defined by politics. But it may be time to chuck many of our notions about how humanity organizes itself. Across the world a resurgence of tribal ties is creating more complex global alliances. Where once diplomacy defined borders, now history, race, ethnicity, religion, and culture are dividing humanity into dynamic new groupings. READ MORE

The Yantar (Amber) shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia's Baltic exclave, has to date built three more Project 11356 Talwar-class (Krivak-class) frigates for the Indian Navy and now plans to launch construction of similar warships for the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, after winning a Defense Ministry contract. READ MORE

Pan-European security cooperation will top the agenda at the Deauville Summit between the leaders of Germany, France and Russia but while the topic is a pressing one, are they the right people to be talking about it? READ MORE

Addressing the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov mentioned the initiative to found a “Forum on Security, Peace and Cooperation in Central Asia and Caspian basin”. Obviously, they are talking about a kind of the OSCE analogue in the region. READ MORE

When Kyrgyzstan counted the votes in a parliamentary election Monday, the strong showing of a nationalist party was only one surprise. The bigger surprise was that the results were not a foregone conclusion, making this small, mostly Muslim nation the first in Central Asia to hold free elections in pursuit of a democratic system. READ MORE

Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Berlin with a range issues on the agenda. Among them was the integration of Muslims in Germany, a much-debated topic in recent weeks. READ MORE

Recent developments in Russia’s foreign policy reflect the country’s struggle to preserve its status as a “great power” through modernization. Dmitri Trenin of the Moscow Center discussed how the economic crisis, China’s rising power, and Moscow’s relations with its neighbors have affected its foreign and security policy. Carnegie’s Martha Brill Olcott moderated. READ MORE

Senior Russian officials have made clear that the country’s energy policies will continue to evolve around the nexus of ambitious export plans. The government pledged to make the country’s gas exports more flexible. Russia’s total gas exports will include 10 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2020 and 15 percent by 2030, Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, announced on September 17. The global demand for hydrocarbons will be increasing in the next decade according to Putin. READ MORE

The message promoted by foreign policy gurus in recent years is that the American moment is over and a new global balance is emerging; one where power is no longer concentrated in Washington but spread among several different countries. The U.S. will continue to retain a prominent position at the top of the global food chain we are told, but no longer will there be the sense of American worldwide hegemony. Instead the emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so-called “BRICs”) will assume their rightful place as great powers and in the process create a new multi-polar world. READ MORE

After declining to intervene in southern Kyrgyzstan’s turmoil over the summer, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is facing a fresh challenge in Tajikistan. And once again the Russia-led security group appears set to refrain from acting. The CSTO’s hesitancy is a reflection of a lack of clarity about the possible mission in Tajikistan, as well as underlying problems with its decision-making mechanism. READ MORE

With regard to energy security in the European Union, it has become common knowledge that there are still two Europes.  The security of energy is dividing the continent broadly along what used to be the Iron Curtain. The Western part has both effective and poorly functioning energy markets, but generally a fairly well balanced energy mix.  In contrast, the Eastern part is almost the opposite; the region has accumulated and continues to confront many challenges. READ MORE

What do big Eurasian energy pipelines have in common with U.S. military projects? Once they're proposed, they refuse to die -- they assume a life of their own, and haunt us until someone finally manages to drive a stake into their heart. And by that time, the chessboard has wholly changed, forcing everyone to adjust to a new set of rules.. READ MORE

“CORF [Collective Operational Reaction forces] will be no worse than NATO,” claimed Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, only one year ago. Today, these words are used in Russia to popularize the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the CORF within the post-Soviet space. READ MORE

The results of the OSCE Assessment Mission's studies will benefit Azerbaijan by bringing international attention to the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the situation in the separatist region, experts said. READ MORE