The top Georgian diplomat in Ankara Irakli Koplatadze  has said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway offers the cheapest and shortest way for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan to return home. READ MORE

Kairat Kelimbetov, a deputy prime minister who led the nationalization of failing Kazakh lenders in 2009 as the chief of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, will replace Grigori Marchenko as central bank governor. READ MORE

The Arctic region is turning into an area of protracted geopolitical rivalry. This rivalry will not necessarily be expressed in any military confrontation, but rather will take the form of economic, technological and political competition. In this context, the states involved will be ever less prepared to opt for compromise in upholding their national interests within international organizations. NATO’s increasing activity in the Arctic will lead to transfiguration in relations in the area of international security, with new challenges and opportunities emerging for Russia. READ MORE