Russia has announced via Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev that Kiev will not be allowed to sign any additional natural gas delivery deals from Gazprom, the state gas company, saying that “we won’t extend a transit contract with Ukraine on disadvantageous terms.” The current agreement lasts through 2020, but consistent disagreements and renegotiations on payments have…
The government of Tajikistan has instructed its officials to prioritize state-controlled over independent Tajik or international media sources. As a result, in-country journalists complain, their already restricted contact with government officials has been almost entirely eliminated. The official statement released by the Tajik government instructs its officials to limit its contact with any independent journalists…
Kyrgyzstan has followed through on its threat to cancel a cooperation agreement with the US after the US awarded a human rights prize to Azimzhan Askarov, an activist currently serving a life sentence in Kyrgyz prison. Human Rights Groups have recently demanded Askarov’s release from jail, and the deal had granted US personnel connected with…
Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamanei announced that relations between Iran and the US will not improve as a result of the nuclear accord. The remarks, given on Iranian state-controlled television, indicated that the accord comes out of a marriage of convenience and that new areas of collaboration between the two sides would not be explored. Khamanei…
Indian PM Narendra Modi is once again breaking down old barriers in foreign policy, this time with Iran. An Indian national security advisor described the accord that was reached with Iran and the P5+1 powers as the “best deal available.” India has been cautiously sending various ministers to Iran for months now, including its national…
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to endorse the nuclear deal brokered with Iran last week. The vote is of course not a surprise as it concerns a deal brokered by its five permanent members and Germany. However, the vote has been acclaimed as symbolically important to the process of generating political support for…
Iran has begun to explore ways to convince its rivals in the Middle East of the worth of the recently-signed nuclear deal. The pact between Iran and the West has been met with extensive criticism from countries such as Saudi Arabia that see Iran as a destabilizing force in the Middle East due to its…
Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lauded the nuclear deal with Iran, but most Russian analysts and officials were quick to point out that the deal locks in Iran’s return to global oil markets, essentially guaranteeing a price cut at a time of extreme vulnerability for Russian government revenue. The Kremlin chose to stress the positives…
In April 2015 we had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Lawrence Markowitz, Assistant Professor of Political Science & Economics at Rowan University. Dr. Markowitz has researched and published extensively on the politics of state failure and authoritarian rule in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union. He is the author of State Erosion: Unlootable Resources…
After several months of negotiations, Iran and the P5+1 have come to terms on a nuclear deal. The deal sets limits on the Iranian capacity for centrifuges, reducing them by two thirds, and places a 15 year restriction on enriching uranium beyond 5%. Under the deal Iran will also be obligated to allow IAEA inspectors…
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