Conflicts between ethnic Han Chinese and the Uyghurs, a Turkic minority that has historically inhabited the province are expected to continue as the regional Chinese government announced the closing and subsequent “rescuing” of children from religious schools. The closing of schools not sanctioned by the local government has seen the removal of over 190 children…
Ukrainian defense minister Valery Heletey announced on Sunday that NATO would begin delivering weapons to government forces to, as he put it, “stop” Vladimir Putin. Heletey said he had discussed the supply agreements with NATO defense ministers during the summit in Wales during the first week of September. NATO statements described the shipments as “non-lethal.”…
The outcome of the Afghan presidential elections appears destined to be delayed, at least in the near-term. Despite recent statements made by both candidates to the contrary, a resolution to the oft-delayed elections seems unlikely to arrive soon, as Ashraf Ghani recently declared that any “two headed government” cannot be tolerated. The negotiations for an…
Russia is currently engaged in negotiations with Iran on “energy development.” Encapsulated in a recently announced agreement to build two nuclear power plants in Iranian territory last week after Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif visited Moscow. This past Monday, Iran’s negotiator for nuclear talks, Abbas Aragchi, expressed his extreme disappointment with the Obama administration adding…
Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom will begin natural gas exploration operations this month, more than a year after the Moscow-based energy giant bought out Kyrgyzstan’s national gas company Kyrgyzgas. The commencement of operations will take place several months after Gazprom obtained ownership of Kyrgyzstan’s entire natural gas infrastructure, a move that was unpopular throughout the…
In early September we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Thomas Simons, a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, as well as a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and former Ambassador to Poland and Pakistan. Dr. Simons has published extensively on Eurasia and the former Soviet Union,…
Last week, Iran failed to meet a deadline to provide crucial data on its past nuclear enrichment program, the IAEA said. This marks the first time the agency has failed to resolve an issue relating to Iran’s potential nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers. As a result, the IAEA team will have to make its…
An external audit of votes cast during Afghanistan’s presidential elections has finally been completed. The audit, which took into consideration an estimated 8 million suspicious ballots, took nearly seven weeks and was the source of much conflict throughout. Both leading candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, abandoned the audit the its neared its completion, albeit…
World leaders assembled for the NATO summit in Wales today, with the lead issue being the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. NATO leaders met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday to discuss providing arms and materials to assist in the ongoing fight against Russian-backed separatists and alleged Russian troops. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned…
The souring of US-Russia relations continued yesterday, as U.S. President Obama, speaking at a NATO in Wales, urged NATO to train and arm the Ukrainian military to defend itself from Russia. The American president described Russian activity in Ukraine as a “brazen assault” on Ukraine, and called for members of NATO to consider the accession…
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