"The truly remarkable failings of the Western economic model now on display" may "give a renewed boost to Islamic radicalisation," writes Michael Emerson, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). READ MORE

The violence unleashed in Kyrgyzstan is being spun as ethnic rioting. The reality is a good deal more complex, and the blame can be laid directly at Russia's door. Russia's coup against the Bakiyev government which took power in the Tulip Revolution leveraged Uzbek separatists in the Osh Province to suppress Kyrgiz nationalist supporters of Bakiyev. READ MORE

The worsening ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan is hundreds of miles from U.S. and Russian bases in the central Asia country, but it poses thorny strategic dilemmas for both. READ MORE

Today's world contains two declining global powers (Russia and the US) and two emerging ones (China and the EU). While China's rise is unstoppable, the EU must establish its own foreign policy doctrine, which in an interdependent world must be one of "inclusiveness" and soft power, writes Romanian MEP Adrian Severin, vice-president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, in an exclusive commentary. READ MORE

A crisis of confidence lies at the core of security challenges facing the OSCE region today, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov said today at the opening of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference. READ MORE

Leila Aliyeva, head of the Russian office of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and editor-in-chief of Baku magazine. READ MORE

In announcing the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran, President Obama stressed not once but twice Iran's increasing "isolation" from the world. This claim is not surprising considering that after 16 months of an "extended hand" policy, in response to which Iran accelerated its nuclear program -- more centrifuges, more enrichment sites, higher enrichment levels -- Iranian "isolation" is about the only achievement to which the administration can even plausibly lay claim. READ MORE

The EU's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has said she is "very concerned" about the unrest in Kyrgystan and has called for a stable government. At least 117 people have been killed in the ethnic clashes so far. READ MORE

Kazakhstan, often perceived in western capitals in terms of its energy wealth or its close relationship with Russia, is undoubtedly an important geostrategic player in Eurasia and in early 2010 became the first former Soviet country to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has elicited speculation and controversy concerning its role and potential. READ MORE

As earlier reported, on June 10-11, 2010 Tashkent will host a  session of the Council of Presidents of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Muratbek Imanaliev, Secretary-General of the SCO, told about the agenda of the forthcoming sitting and the threats and challenges the Organization faces today in an interview to Kazinform. READ MORE