Russia’s Mediterranean task force will comprise 5-6 warships and may be enlarged to include nuclear submarines, Navy Commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov said on Sunday. READ MORE

Financial regulatory reforms proposed by G20 are not sufficient to restore the stability of the global financial system. This was repeatedly stated by international experts. The world is in search of a new interactive platform that would combine the best minds to develop scenarios for the world economy development. In recent years, developing countries have intensified in this matter. READ MORE

Not much time is left until 2014, when the withdrawal of NATO anti-terrorism coalition troops from Afghanistan is expected to take place; however, it still remains unknown what type of military contingent will remain in Afghanistan and Central Asia thereafter and which countries of the region will be selected by the West for this purpose. READ MORE

US President Obama and his South Korean colleague Park have in Washington expressed their concern over the North's repeated provocations. Both reiterated their commitment to keeping up a strong military deterrent. READ MORE

Central Asia is presently a vital area for world politics. The 9/11 acts of terror in New York and Washington showed that the collapse of states in this region as they lose control over their national borders may have serious repercussions for other parts of the world. In addition, the involvement of major world powers (China, Russia, the US, India, Pakistan) in regional affairs suggests that the borders of Central Asian countries may be changed to meet the interests of these outside players. How might national borders in the region change in one hundred years? READ MORE

China appears to be growing frustrated with North Korea's behavior, perhaps to the point of changing its long-standing support for Pyongyang. As North Korea's largest economic sponsor, Beijing has provided the North Korean regime with crucial aid for years and offered it diplomatic protection against the United States and other powers. To outsiders, China's alliance with North Korea seems like a Cold War relic with little reason for persisting into the 21st century. However, Beijing's continued support for Pyongyang is not rooted in shared ideology or past cooperation nearly as much as in China's own security calculations. READ MORE

It is possible that EU-Ukraine relations could take a negative turn in the coming months. READ MORE

The Government has decided that Lithuania must have the euro by 2015, whatever the cost. Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius, though, admits that ordinary people are a little suspicious of a currency switch – remember as they do the last monetary reforms in the country that went less than smoothly. READ MORE

“I continue to believe that we’ve got to close Guantanamo,” said President Barack Obama at yesterday’s news conference. “The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are.” READ MORE

Kosovo diplomacy is young, but pretty active. Today it is very important for Pristina for the world to perceive it as an equal partner. And first of all Belgrade. READ MORE