How the crisis in Greece could lead to the demise of Europe's most ambitious project.

Crisis—from the Greek "krisis," for a turning point in a disease—is one of many English words we owe to the ancient Athenians. Now their modern descendants are reminding us what it really means. READ MORE

Signing an agreement with Austria the Russian side may start design work on South Stream project. According to Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller Russia will start supplies from the new pipe already in 2015. Remarkably Vienna - one of the gas destinations on Nabucco's way to Europe - prefers the competitor. Does the Western project for supplies of primary materials have a future after this turn of events? READ MORE

Lithuania will remain an active participant of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership initiative and will make every effort to ensure its successful implementation, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis said at the Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers’ Informal Meeting on 24 May in Sopot, Poland. READ MORE

For Kazakhstan and its President N. Nazarbayev the OSCE Chairmanship in 2010 is a prestigious project. At the moment East and West take care of a great and primarily reach in resources state of Central Asia. READ MORE

NATO comes out with a new strategic concept once every ten years, like a child that outgrows its old clothes and needs new ones. The great paradox of these regular changes is that NATO's original "zone of hostility" has been shrinking geographically over the past 20 years while its zone of activity has continued to expand. In fact, all of NATO's past concepts simply provided a formal rationale for what it had been doing for a few years anyway, even if this extended beyond NATO's official competence. READ MORE

Energy supply should dominate the EU's overall security objectives for the immediate future, given its dependence on Russia. READ MORE

The Russian authorities are seeking a major détente with the West. A draft of a revised foreign policy doctrine was leaked and extracts published by Russky Newsweek in Moscow this month. The document was prepared by the foreign ministry and envisages closer political cooperation with the US and the West in exchange for much needed Western capital and technologies to kick-start Russian modernization in all fields, including defense. The document was prepared by the foreign ministry in February and provisionally approved by President, Dmitry Medvedev. READ MORE

Let's be generous and call the frantic diplomatic maneuvers that have been taking place this week over Iran's nuclear program a "negotiation," Tehran-style. READ MORE

Kyrgyzstan’s recent upheaval and the  war in Afghanistan have obscured the fact that other important developments are occurring in Central Asia. For example, Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), announced in March that the Russia-dominated security group and the United Nations would henceforth cooperate in countering terrorism, transnational crime (including illegal arms trafficking), and in settling conflicts. READ MORE

Kosovo's precedent cannot be used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as historical facts do not permit this, Turkish Center for Strategic Studies head Celal Cem Oguz said A round-table on "Kosovo and the Nagorno-Karabakh: Differences and Contradictions" was held at the Azerbaijani Presidential Center for Strategic Studies with the participation of Cem Oguz and Turkish professors from Bilkent University. READ MORE