European Missile Shield Plan Is Expected To Gain Support
U.S. and NATO officials said Thursday they expect that the military alliance will formally participate in the Obama administration's plan for a missile defense shield over Europe, scheduled to be activated next year. READ MORE
Global Insights: Kyrgyzstan Election Benefits Regional Security
[1].jpg)
Few would have expected it to be possible a few months ago, but Kyrgyzstan managed to hold a free, fair, and surprisingly non-violent and trouble-free parliamentary election this weekend. In an assessment widely shared by regional experts, David Trilling, writing at EurasiaNet, concluded, "Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections couldn't have gone better." READ MORE
Russia Picks Up The China Card
The warm relationship between Russia and China should be an indication that Russia is keeping its foreign policy options open. Long gone are the times when aged and frail denizens of the Kremlin would go on a foreign trip only on special occasions: to sign a strategic arms control treaty or to visit with fellow septuagenarians in the so-called fraternal socialist countries. READ MORE
NATO Chief Urges EU To Give Turkey Security Role
Anders Fogh Rasmussen says measures are needed for closer EU-NATO co-operation. READ MORE
Experts: U.S. Does Not Intend To Give Up Its Interests In Central Asia
Despite Washington's intention to coordinate its actions in Central Asia with Moscow, the U.S. does not intend to give up its influence in the region, experts say. READ MORE
Russian Defense Minister Visits United States: Resetting In Progress
The two documents signed during Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's visit to the United States - a memorandum on cooperation between the military departments and a joint statement on the establishment of the U.S.-Russian Defense Relations Working Group - could drastically change military relations between the two countries. READ MORE
Ahmadinejad Encroaches On Supreme Leader's Foreign-Policy Turf
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's appointments of special envoys for foreign affairs is seen as a direct challenge to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. READ MORE
Ignoring Azerbaijan could cost the U.S.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia on the fate of the Nagorno-Karabakh region are reaching dangerous levels. In the past year, the Azeri enclave in the South Caucasus, which Armenia has occupied since 1992, has been the focus of increased violence. Just last month, six people were killed in an exchange of fire across the temporary line that separates the two sides. READ MORE
Customs Union Project Shows Moscow's Power Deficit
At the beginning of July, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed a number of protocols establishing a customs union between the three countries. The union, scheduled to be fully operational in January 2012, will create a single common market of about 170 million people and represents the latest of several attempts by Moscow to create an effective trade bloc with its newly independent neighbors since the break-up of the Soviet Union. In addition to the economic ties maintained through the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia first committed to a union with Belarus in 1994. READ MORE
