The ruble’s value plunged once again against other currencies after the Central Bank of Russia returned to a “free-float” on the ruble yesterday. The move was designed to reduce speculative pressure on the currency as it continued to face heavy selling despite a major rate increase last week. The bank did not fully remove itself…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced the planned investment of $16.3 billion USD in a New Silk Road policy championed by Beijing. The intention of reviving the old route is historically significant for China, as it did and will serve as the linchpin of the route upon its completion. The vast majority of the funds will be…
A new development in negotiations with Iran has provoked new optimism in a deal that had stagnated over after Tehran blocked IAEA access to select facilities. Iran has tentatively agreed to send the vast majority of its uranium to Russia, should a wider deal be reached with the West. Upon arrival in Moscow, the uranium…
UN weapons inspectors from the IAEA are continuing to be blocked by the Iranian government from examining their enrichment facilities, where Western politicians believe to be laboratories for compiling fissile materials for a nuclear weapon. With the deadline for the deal to lift sanctions coming once again at the end of November, prospects are not…
Separatists inhabiting Ukraine’s southeastern region of Donetsk plan to hold their own elections, elect a prime minister and allow for a future elected official to appoint his own cabinet. The announcement was made days after the last bastion of separatist, pro-Russia rebels announced their intentions to hold elections that were not “rigged,” as they have…
The Russian state-run media conglomerate Rossiya Sevodnya will be opening local bureaus in over 29 world capitals to expand global media presence in a bid to escalate an ongoing “information war” with the West. Details will apparently be released at an event in Moscow next month, but confirmed locations for the new bureaus include Dushanbe,…
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Beijing yesterday to begin meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The recently inaugurated Ghani’s first official trip abroad as Afghanistan’s leading statesman will consist primarily of talks on the future of relations between the two countries. Ghani has made explicit his desire to strengthen relations with Afghanistan’s eastern…
The new deadline on November 24 for Iran is rapidly approaching, and still large questions about basic elements of the deal are prevalent in the media. Iran has released new statements prohibiting any approval in negotiations on “backward steps,” specifically the enrichment of uranium and number of active centrifuges. The comments were made by Deputy…
Graeme Robertson is currently an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He received his BA from Oxford University, his MA from Harvard in Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, and his Ph.D from Columbia University, with work focusing on political protest in Russian politics. His book…
Pro-Western blocs in Ukraine are leading the way with over 22% of the vote in Ukraine’s ongoing parliamentary elections. Competing parties led by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and current President and former chocolate mogul Petro Poroshenko are leading the with just over 21.65% of the vote each, with all other parties at least seven…
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