Today’s newspapers are all buzzing with one news: Russia has stated that sanctions against Iran are unlikely. Newspapers, like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov on Thursday as saying Moscow wouldn’t back any new rounds of tough sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security […]
The Arctic Sea, officially carrying a cargo of timber worth $2m, disappeared en route from Finland to Algeria on July 24. The vessel vanished into thin air after sailing through the English Channel, a curious case that engaged the attention of Finnish police, Swedish investigators, Interpol, and the Russian Navy. Before people could really jump […]
President Hugo Chávez is on a weeklong trip overseas, to strengthen alliances in “the fight against imperialism”. His itinerary includes stops in Libya, Syria, Iran, Algeria, Belarus, and Russia. Freedom House, a US-based non-profit (and declaredly non-partisan) publishes “Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties”. It ranked each […]
A newly disclosed document- answers to questions for the record submitted by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to the Senate Intelligence Committee in April 2009 – has revealed that Iran is at least four years away from producing nuclear weapon and Iran has been secretly helping the Afghan insurgents including the Taliban. The Washington […]
– Two of the runner-ups in July’s Indonesian presidential election, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Jusuf Kall, will challenge the election results before the nine judges of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia. They claim the voter list contained up to 23 million duplicate names, but neither has provided any evidence to support their claims. Although there […]
“We reaffirm our commitment to the goals of the common fight against the threats of terrorism, armed extremism, and illegal drug trafficking in Afghanistan. We shall continue and develop our cooperation in the interest of enhancing the capabilities of the government of Afghanistan to accomplish key socioeconomic objectives, to raise living standards, and to ensure […]
Much of the Western media has portrayed Kyrgyzstan’s decision to permit US troops to use Manas Air Base as a surprise turnaround, painting Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek S. Bayikev as a crafty little leader, capable of pandering to both Russia and the United States as it suits him. Although I have no wish to demean President […]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attempted to allay global fears that Moscow is trying to amass access to natural resources this week during a trip through Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola as he signed billion dollar energy deals providing Russia a greater foothold in Africa . In Angola, Medvedev emphasized that these resource contracts were important […]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is on a 4-nation tour this week through Africa to push his expansive international energy policy. Today, his former company, Russian gas giant Gazprom, signed a $2.5 bln deal with its counterpart in Nigeria to build infrastructure including refineries, pipelines and gas power stations. The deal gives access to Nigeria’s resources […]
The European Union plans to announce today that it sees possible disruptions for its gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine, a liklihood we identified earlier this year. What’s worse, Gazprom is now demanding $230 in debt payments from Belarus, another key gas transit route to western Europe. The payments from Belarus may stem from a […]
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, are set to meet on 29 April. The meeting comes nearly four months after disagreements over gas prices led to a standoff between the two nations, leaving a good portion of the continent without gas supplies in the dead of winter. Fortunately, the price […]
One of the untold stories in the headlines during the past few months is that the price of oil has climbed. Recent reports have shown oil at $61 a barrel in the 4th quarter, definitely higher than the $30 reached in 2008. Many financial analysts contribute the rise in price mainly to OPEC cuts. Bloomberg […]
Ukraine – Orange Revolution Myanmar – Saffron Revolution Georgia – Rose Revolution Lebanon – Cedar Revolution (OK – Cedar isn’t really a color, but it’s quite descriptive) Moldova? All these nations had popular revolts between 2004 and 2007. The Bush Administration moved quick to give them cute and happy names to express support for them. […]
With a ‘hello‘ between US Envoy Richard Holbrooke and an Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister garnering the most media attention, the International Conference on Afghanistan was underway at The Hague in Netherlands. This major conference features a geopolitical who’s who of actors influenced by the conflict, including representatives from Pakistan, Iran (wow, I didn’t know they […]
As we discuss growing multilateral alliances, and as we report on Russia’s declining economy and rising geopolitical ambitions, we also can continue to note Moscow’s attempts to forge partnerships to ensure its energy dominance whilst staving off more economic attrition. Today, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. The meeting […]