Moscow’s Shadow Over Kyrgyzstan
The recent outburst of ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan will serve to strengthen Russian influence in the region.
Cracks Widening in Afghanistan
This week’s drama concerning General McChrystal is just one of many signs pointing to trouble for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Decision Time for President Obama on Afghanistan
Abdullah Abdullah’s decision to pull out of a second round of balloting will elicit sighs of relief in the short term, but it does so at the cost of jeopardizing the long-term chances for the success of NATO’s nation-building project in Afghanistan.
NATO forces turn to warlords
The revelation by the New York Times on Wednesday that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) counter-insurgency forces on Afghan warlords for security, according to a recently published report and investigations by Australian and Canadian journalists.
Obama U-turns on Sudan
The Obama administration has rebooted bilateral relations with yet another international pariah, in effect choosing engagement over the morally sound though geopolitically risky course of self-imposed isolation.
SCO: An Asian NATO or OPEC?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has always had an enigmatic air to it.
Collapse of the TFG in Somalia?
After decades of anarchy and disintegration, Somalia may once again soon be united, albeit under the banner of a terrorist government.
EU wary of Russia tensions over Moldova
Protests against Moldova's Communist rulers are the latest threat to stability on the European Union's eastern border but the bloc is wary of wading into a row that could stoke wider tensions with Russia.
US-Israeli Diplomatic Spat Erupts
Abortive ‘proximity talks’ between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are unlikely to bear fruit.
Israel’s Gaza Lockdown
Following a series of Israeli air, tank and bulldozer attacks, on January 17 Israel locked down the Gaza strip, preventing people and supplies from entering or exiting the region surrounded by towering walls.