Home

NATO

U.S., Afghanistan launch negotiations on legal authority for U.S. armed forces to continue post-2014 presence in Afghanistan

The Governments of Afghanistan and the U.S. officially launched their negotiations on a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that will determine how many American military personnel stay in Afghanistan after 2014, according to the U.S. Department of State. READ MORE

Energy security and NATO: a view from Washington

By Dan Milstein

What you see depends on where you are standing…and the view of energy security from here on the banks of the Potomac River, is surely quite different from that on the banks of the Seine, the Thames, the Vistula, or of Faxafloi Bay. READ MORE

“New Silk Road”: Connecting Center and South of Asia with One Thread

By Mikhail Agadzhanyan

Withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and related with it regrouping of military forces of the USA made the initiative of promotion of plans on new interstate configurations within the area from Central to South Asia topical in Washington. Since the middle of 2011, when the terms of troop’s withdrawal from Afghanistan were finally confirmed, the Department of State has started objective lobbying of the project “New Silk Road”. The given project claims to be conceptual in the issue of the future of the region through the prism of strategic interests of the USA. READ MORE

Voyage to South Caucasus NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATO Secretary General commends strong partnership with Armenia. READ MORE

Putin's Evolving Strategy in Europe

video

By George Friedman

Putin's return to the presidency was not unexpected; he was never really unseated as Russia's leader, even during Dmitri Medvedev's presidency. But it comes as an anti-incumbent trend is developing in Europe, most recently demonstrated when socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeated Nicolas Sarkozy in France's presidential elections. In response to these changes, Putin will have to adjust Russia's approach in Europe. READ MORE

Putin to tackle "unpredictable" Uzbekistan - NBCA

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Uzbekistan reflects the Central Asian republic’s importance to the Kremlin. READ MORE

Uzbekistan: Will Karimov Get Blown Off in Windy City?

video

By Deirdre Tynan

It appears that Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s efforts to obtain a one-on-one meeting with US President Barack Obama are coming up short, an informed source indicates. Obama's preliminary schedule for the upcoming NATO summit reportedly does not include individual meetings with any of the Central Asian leaders who are planning on attending the event. READ MORE

Obama makes surprise trip to Afghanistan to sign key pact, mark bin Laden raid

video

By Kevin Sieff and Scott Wilson

President Obama outlined his plan to end America’s longest foreign war during a visit here Tuesday colored by election-year politics and economic uncertainty, declaring that “this time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end.” READ MORE

NATO in Central Asia

By Arthur Dunn

The North Atlantic Alliance had engaged regional governments on defense matters since the mid-1990s, when former Soviet Central Asian republics have joined NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and its related Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. READ MORE