Trade fair can't mask German-Russian tensions
Russia is the partner country for the 2013 Hannover Messe - the trade fair for the industrial sector. While German-Russian economic ties are booming, political problems are straining relations between the countries. READ MORE
The Cypriot Euro Crisis is Also About Germany and Russia
There were messy and embarrassing mistakes along the way. But, in the end, German Chancellor Angela Merkel got what she wanted: an end to the endemic system of money laundering and corruption in Cyprus. READ MORE
Turkish minister Egemen Bagis in Vilnius: Islam is European reality
Turkey's ability to have Islam and democracy coexisting together can help fight extremism in Europe where the Muslim population will continue to rise, Turkish Minister for European Union Affairs Egemen Bagis says. READ MORE
North Korea prepares for war
North Korean state television broadcasts footage of Kim Jong Un attending an "urgent operation meeting" with senior generals late last month, during which he signed a rocket preparation plan and ordered his forces on standby to strike the US mainland, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii. READ MORE
From Emotional Detachment to Rational Realism: Turkish-Israeli Relations
One could contend that Netanyahu’s phone call and apology to Prime Minister Erdoğan with regard to the Mavi Marmara tragedy, indicates the dawn of a new era in Turkish-Israeli relations. READ MORE
2013: the Caspian Year
In 2013, the Caspian Region should be eventful, with the Fourth Caspian Summit to take place by the end of the year, and presidential elections in Iran in June and in Azerbaijan in October. In the first half of the year, Barack Obama is going to unveil his second-term regional foreign policy priorities, which will to a great extent define the situation around Iran's nuclear program and the solution of Afghan problems. READ MORE
Lithuania Puts Up Bridges with South Caucasus
In March the Head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius paid a visit to the states of South Caucasus – Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Against the background of the development of bilateral relations of Lithuania with these states, this visit looks quite logical. READ MORE
A bailout for Cyprus, a geopolitical failure for Russia
Russia has a few interests at stake in the European Union bailout for Cyprus. The first and most obvious is that Russian citizens stand to lose billions of dollars worth of savings in Cyprus’s banking sector, which serves as a low-tax haven for Russian oligarchs. Those oligarchs, remember, wield outsize political power within Russia. The second is that Cyprus is a political client state of Moscow’s, a helpful little ally on such matters as sending arms to Syria. The third is symbolic, and doesn’t actually have that much to do with Cyprus itself, but with Russia’s standing in Europe. READ MORE
Nationalists in power
The rise of nationalism in that if a country or region depends on the level of drive people, their maturity and ability to develop independently. Without such a foundation in society there will be no national movement, no major party or leader. In this sense, the example of Belgium, is very significant. If you look at the composition of the Parliament, it contains powerful position of Flemish nationalists who want to separate and Francophone nationalists hopeless, despite the proximity to France, where densely rooted nationalism, including in the face of "National Front" Dynasty Le Pen. READ MORE
Russia Prepares for War with the US and NATO, While Lacking Resources
Sergei Shoigu, a former long-time emergency situations minister (MChS) and a former Moscow region governor is a well-known and popular figure in Russia—according to recent independent Leveda-Tsentr polls, he is at present more popular than Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
