In recent years, Kazakhstan has made an effort to deepen and expand cooperation with the world’s Islamic community. The focus has been on economic and cultural ties, but political and security issues have also been prominent due to the large number of internal and regional conflicts afflicting Muslim majority countries. Toward this end, in 1995, Kazakhstan joined the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC), which was established in 1969. Kazakhstan then became the first Central Asian country to chair the organization as the rotating head of its Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) from June 2011 to November 2012. READ MORE

Till 2014 Lithuania intends to build a terminal of condensed natural gas (CNG) in Klaipeda in order to reduce the dependence of supplies from (yet the only source) Russian gas. Meanwhile Russian gas giant Gazprom loses European market rapidly, giving the way to other suppliers, for example, Qatar and is concerned about the issues of terminal construction by Lithuania. READ MORE

The last chance for peaceful talks to resolve the nuclear issue. READ MORE

Will Nino Burjanadze leave big politics? Can the former opposition leader and one of the most influential Georgian politicians compete with the national hero Bidzina Ivanishvili? Has Burjanadze lost her credibility in the eyes of the public and will she run for the post of the head of the country? The closer the presidential election, the more urgent these issues are. READ MORE

Russian authorities reiterated, on January 22, pledges of increased economic engagement with Central Asia. The foreign ministry advocated plans to develop economic and trade ties with the region, while other officials urged the creation of a Russian state corporation that would encourage economic development there (Regnum, January 22). READ MORE

At the end of the last year the Centre for Geopolitical Studies organised an international conference „Nuclear Energy Triangle: Regional and Global Challenges of Nuclear Power“. The focus during the conference was given to the Lithuanian, Russian and Belarusian NPP projects, their economic feasibility and geopolitical implications.   READ MORE

Yet some time ago American political analysts and reporters actively discussed the “Arab Spring” and in these discussions the case was more about that the “Spring: has turned into “winter”, and hopes for rapid establishment in Near East of democracy and the triumph of human rights haven’t come true. Now this discussion is gradually ceasing – it seems that liberal dreamers recognize that there is nothing to hope for. READ MORE

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic is under fire after acknowledging that he met with a reputed member of a narco clan thought to be led by Serbia's most-wanted fugitive.  READ MORE

Turkey's aspirations for membership in the Russian and Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) might materialize as the organization moves towards admitting new members, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a special talk with Today's Zaman. READ MORE

Turkey–European Union relations were frozen while Cyprus held the rotating EU presidency during the second half of 2012. In those six months, no progress was made in Turkey’s European integration, and very few official visits took place between Turkish and EU delegations. Signifying the tense relationship, in November, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, Professor Burhan Kuzu, the head of the parliamentary Constitution Commission, harshly criticized the EU progress report on Turkey. He dramatically threw it into a trashcan on national television to show his government’s disappointment with the EU and with Cyprus’s presidency (CNNTurk, November 11, 2012). READ MORE

The EU does not give ‘certificates’ of economic health. On the contrary, it merely accepts whatever figures are thrown at it by member States, at face value and without question. READ MORE

The year of 2013 has started with an acute escalation of the situation in Mali. After a military coup in March 2012 the North of the country was captured by Toureg-separatists from the National Liberation Movement of Azawad (NLMA). Having used disorganization and weakness of governmental troops, the rebels proclaimed an independent state of Azawad along the territory, comparable in sizes with France. Already in summer 2012 contradictions between moderate separatists and radical Islamists among rebelled Toureg escalated. As a result the power was transferred to the Islamists from the groupings of  Ansar al-Din (“Faith defenders”) and Al-Qaeda of Islamic Magrheb. READ MORE

We report occasionally in this space about upstanding people who've been ordered out of Canada on some technicality or other, wringing our hands at the unfairness of it all. READ MORE

An opening ceremony of the International Year of Water Cooperation will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on February 11, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan. READ MORE

Several major energy projects are currently implemented in the Baltic Region. However, due to their complex nature and long implementation period the internal changes or changes in the international environment might determine long delays or even termination of project implementation. For instance, the referendum on the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant (VNPP) left the countries in uncertainty and made them consider alternative ways to ensure energy independence. READ MORE

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is visiting Lithuania on Friday. READ MORE

Critics says the government's report on arms exports lacks transparency: exporting companies are not named, and government sales are merely summarized. Yet the government claims it's in-depth and detailed. READ MORE