Yesterday in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterparts from Belarus and Kazakhstan met to initiate the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union as a successor trade and legal framework to the Customs Union. The new regulations imposed by the EEU give citizens of member states equal employment and education opportunities across all three…

On Tuesday, President Obama announced plans to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after 2014 until withdrawal in 2016. He made these remarks in preparation for a major speech to be delivered today on the recalibration of American foreign policy and countering criticism. Ultimate withdrawal from Afghanistan, he argued, will give the US more flexibility to…

Ukrainian business magnate Petro Poroshenko took an overwhelming share of the country’s vote in this past weekend’s election, coming away with more than 55% of all votes. The to-be fifth president of Ukraine was previously Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010) and the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. Close ties to the…

Exit polls in Ukraine indicate that Petro Poroshenko has won the presidential election over other rival candidates like Yulia Tymoshenko and Serhiy Tihipko. The victory was expected by most observers in the previous week, as he enjoyed a wide lead over his rivals. Despite the nearly unambiguous victory, the regional governments of eastern Ukraine reported that only 9…

The first round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections official wrapped up on over a week ago on May 15, with results showing that Abdullah Abdullah, the former Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, prevailed with nearly 15% more of the vote than Ashraf Ghani, a former Afghan Minister of Finance and World Bank official, his closest competitor.…

The Ukrainian chocolate magnate Petro Poroshenko is poised to win the presidential elections in Ukraine that are taking place on the 25th of May. Opinion polls place him first in the election, far ahead of any potential competitors. The current election will be the most important the country has had since it gained independence during…

The Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) convened this week, bringing together the leaders of Central Asian nations as well as Russia and China. The conference, held every four years, was established under the auspices of a number of countries from throughout Asia and the Middle East, and recently has…

As Russian forces on the border with Ukraine are ordered back, regional leaders have reflected on the implications for Russian intervention in their own countries. As reported earlier, Kazakhstan’s tepid support coupled with Kyrgzystan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan’s reticence on the issue have raised a real point of tension between Russia and the FSU republics. President…

Ukrainian dignitaries have convened in the eastern city of Kharkiv in order to establish a framework by which peace could be brokered throughout Ukraine. The escalation of violence in Ukraine’s east, not to mention the killing of more than 30 pro-Russia protestors in Ukraine’s southwestern city of Odessa, have placed the country in a precarious…

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) released a statement this morning on the impact of Ukraine’s crisis on economies of Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. EBRD economists forecasted that Ukraine will predictably slump into a deep recession and sanctions for Russia will serve to accelerate its own economic stagnation. However, projections…