The Crimea: Europe's Next Flashpoint?
This occasional report by Taras Kuzio examines Russian-Ukraine relations and the future of the Crimea as well as the port of Sevastopol, a key strategic naval base for the Russian navy.
Russian LNG - The Future Geopolitical Battleground
This occasional report addresses the historical shift in the global natural gas industry away from overland pipeline deliveries and toward liquefied natural gas, as well as Russia's move toward becoming a leader in the emerging LNG market.
Breaking News:
The Kremlin Antagonizes Obama Administration with Impunity
May 16, 2013 05:02 PM
Last-minute efforts during recent meetings with President Vladimir Putin by British Prime Minister David Cameron, his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and United States Secretary of State John Kerry to dissuade Russia from shipping modern, long-range anti-aircraft S-300 missiles to Syria have all dismally failed. A top-level diplomat told Jamestown the Israeli delegation led by Netanyahu, which met Putin this week in Sochi, presented facts and figures describing the terrible threats emanat...
Growing Sense of Polarization and Escalating Tensions in Crimea Ahead of 69th Anniversary of Crimean Tatar Deportation
May 17, 2013
Each year on May 18, around 25,000–30,000 Crimean Tatars gather in Crimea’s capital Simferopol to commemorate the 1944 deportation of their parents and grandparents from their historical homeland. They come to Simferopol from all...
Crimean Tatars to Protest Ukrainian Actions on Deportation Anniversary
May 17, 2013
Tomorrow (May 18) marks the 69th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatar nation from their homeland on trumped-up charges of collaboration with the Germans during World War II. And once again, Crimean...
Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan Presidential Summit Boosts Joint Ties
May 17, 2013
Turkmenistani President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made a state visit to Kazakhstan on May 10–11. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that his counterpart’s visit “demonstrates the mutual desire to develop these...
Sources of Moldova’s Political Chaos: The Parliamentary System
May 17, 2013
Moldova’s tripartite government, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), has foundered over its internal contradictions, and will no longer be resuscitated in its previously existing form. Two of AEI’s parties have scuttled...
TURKEY
Breaking News:
Turkish Prime Minister’s Visit to Mongolia
May 9, 2013 04:48 PM
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Mongolia last month (April 11–12) is likely to result in closer bilateral economic cooperation in addition to the two countries’ already well-established cultural, educational and security ties. As is traditional for Turkish high-level guests to Mongolia, Prime Minister Erdogan visited the Tonyukuk monuments near the capital city. He also opened the Konya Cultural Center and Mosque and attended the opening ceremony of Ankara Boulevard in Ula...
UKRAINE
Breaking News:
Growing Sense of Polarization and Escalating Tensions in Crimea Ahead of 69th Anniversary of Crimean Tatar Deportation
May 17, 2013 04:51 PM
Each year on May 18, around 25,000–30,000 Crimean Tatars gather in Crimea’s capital Simferopol to commemorate the 1944 deportation of their parents and grandparents from their historical homeland. They come to Simferopol from all cities and towns and conduct a peaceful meeting organized by the Mejlis—the executive body representing the Crimean Tatars—in front of the Crimean Musical Drama Theater in Simferopol’s Central Square and remember the victims of the mass deportation on guarded and sealed...
KYRGYZSTAN
Breaking News:
Moscow Promotes Airpower and Peacekeeping on Afghanistan-Linked CSTO Agenda (Part Two)
May 7, 2013 05:13 PM
Following the creation in June 2009 of the rapid reaction forces to enhance the military capabilities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Uzbekistan’s departure from the body in 2012 and the prospect of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) drawdown in Afghanistan, Moscow is trying to further boost the CSTO by developing airpower and peacekeeping capacities currently lacking. These moves are linked to the success Moscow has achieved in elevating the significance of A...
BELARUS
Breaking News:
Tilting at Windmills: Why Do the West’s Belarus Policies Not Succeed?
May 16, 2013 05:07 PM
In Belarus, the second Sunday of May is celebrated as the Day of the National Emblem and Flag. “For a true citizen, there is nothing more sacred than the coat of arms and the flag of his or her country. Looking at them, each one of us feels inseparable from a single large family whose name is the Belarusian people,” President Alyaksandr Lukashenka told the nation on May 10 (http://news.tut.by/politics/347845.html). The official symbols of independent Belarus are the slightly modified insignia of...
GEORGIA
Breaking News:
FBI Director Mueller’s Visit to Georgia Highlights Bilateral Counter-Terrorism Cooperation
May 15, 2013 05:41 PM
On May 8, Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), visited Georgia. The official reason for the visit was to assess the terrorism risks in the region in connection with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. “The FBI is responsible for protecting Americans against terrorism, and so in the run up to the Sochi Olympics, Mr. Mueller has been consulting throughout the region on what can be done to protect the athletes at the upcoming Olympic Games,” United States Ambass...
RUSSIA
Breaking News:
International Islamist Movement Spreads to the North Caucasus
May 16, 2013 05:05 PM
The Jamestown Foundation has repeatedly reported on Hizb ut-Tahrir’s (HuT) activities in Russia over the past several years. And as the investigation of the Boston bombings progresses, reports are surfacing in the West that Tamerlan Tsarnaev interacted with Magomed Kartashov, the leader of the Dagestan-based Union of the Just—essentially an offshoot of HuT (see Simon Shuster, Time.com, May 8). HuT is banned in Russia and has been driven underground, so Kartashov’s Union of the Just is nothing mo...
Vladimir Socor is a senior fellow of The Jamestown Foundation and regular writer for Eurasia Daily Monitor.
Publications
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Global Terrorism Analysis
China Brief
North Caucasus Analysis
Militant Leadership Monitor
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Breaking News:
Pakistan's Troubled Frontier
April 6, 2009 01:39 PM
First demarcated in 1893 by British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand, the northwest frontier was created when the “Durand Line” imposed an artificial border between the tribal Pashtun communities of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Today, the frontier has become a breeding ground for a growing Islamic militancy in Pakistan’s tribal areas that threatens the very stability of Pakistan – a vital U.S. ally in the global struggle against terrorism. Instability in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal ...
