The Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS) has repeatedly warned that illegal migration has shaped itself into a national security threat for the South-Eastern Mediterranean and Balkan region. The widespread internal destabilization of Arab countries (Egypt, Libya, Iraq and recently in Syria) has created the conditions for…

Introduction
 
Although there is much speculation on the nature of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership, most Western scholars view the Sino-Russian strategic partnership as limited, fragile, easily fractured, and not a formal alliance. There was always an assumption that Moscow and Beijing knew what the partnership was even if the outside…

If you decide to take metro train in Washington, DC, you’re most likely to hear a pleasant woman’s voice - “Safety is everyone’s concern” - referring to possibly dangerous lost bags. Although it sounds a little utopian, this phrase really describes one of U.S. key mottoes, which is also used in foreign affairs. In case of…

             Are we approaching a new chapter in Russian-American relations?  Though some American mindsets are congealed in the frigid certainty that a Russia, conceived in despotism, can never overcome its patrimony, we join those who have drawn a different conclusion.   What we…

Thank you, Fox News Panel 5, for pooh poohing people who quote Shakespeare on Twitter. We are deeply flattered, as that was of course us. We turned to Shakespeare in our desperation while watching the White House mismanagement of the Syrian crisis. We also noted how you tried to outdo each other boasting about your trivial literary pursuits while…

In recent days, the official U.S. position on the situation in Syria has experienced certain transformation. As we know, Russia called for putting Syrian chemical weapons storages under international control which must ultimately lead to its destruction. It is worth noting that the Moscow's proposal hit the bull's eye and was more than likely…

Do the peace talks between Japan and Russia, reopened in March 2013 by Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin, have any chance of success? A window of opportunity has indeed opened for an historic rapprochement between Russia and Japan. The two countries have converging strategies and interests with regard to the key issues surrounding energy cooperation and…

On September 14, 2013, Russia and the USA seem to have agreed on specific terms of Syria's disarmament. The decision was preceded by escalation of tensions between the two as a result of America's ambition to launch strikes against Assad's military facilities. But to anyone who knows recent history of U.S. military operations Barack…

Successful talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry provide an opening for broader discussions. But these measures do not include mediating and checking the ongoing efforts of feuding regional powers Qatar and Saudi Arabia, whose big money and disruptive tactics have joined with western interests to…

The deal on Syria’s chemical disarmament, announced by John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov today in Geneva, is well short of a victory for America and the West. Lacking any concrete threat of force for non-compliance, it could be used by Syria’s bloody dictator, Bashar al-Assad, to deceive the global community and hold on to his gases nonetheless…

 
 
If we agree that diamonds, malachite and tantalite are a curse for D.R. Congo, then oil must be the penultimate stained Holy Grail of the entire world. It aids Middle Eastern dictators in their bids to be the last man on their thrones, causes thirsty states to indulge in most sinful actions, pushes profit-driven corporations…

        Everybody wonders why I decided to live and work in Moscow. The first question I receive from new friends and colleagues here is always, Why Russia? Why leaving Japan behind? Why not enjoying lake and chocolate in Switzerland? Some think that I am very much fond of snow and cold weather. I am not. The others guess that…