By George Vlad Niculescu, Head of Research, the European Geopolitical Forum

Most international analysts agree that Western relations with Russia are at their worst in thirty years, and that they are unlikely to improve unless significant geopolitical changes are going to emerge. More recently, a new academic debate has started on whether, and how, to restore the EU-Russia dialogue to meet the interests of both parties, while trying to reconcile respect for international law with principled pragmatism into creating a new European security architecture. It might be therefore worth looking at the prospects of restoring EU-Russia dialogue through the lens of security scenario planning. READ MORE

• February 9, 2018

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

The Afrin events are being used to assert the notion that without Russian military guarantees, and a Russian military base deployed in Armenia, Yerevan will be under a constant threat from a potential Turkish offensive.
Turkey's military operation in Afrin proved once more that in the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East nothing can be excluded. Obviously, Turkey had made its own calculations when it launched the offensive, and the muted reaction of the main players of the region can be perceived as a proof that some preliminary discussions had taken place before the start of the operation. The nonlinear relations between powers involved in the Middle East makes it really complicated to understand what lies beneath the surface in terms of motives and assessments. READ MORE

• February 2, 2018

A Syrian peace conference in Russia ended on Tuesday with a statement calling for democratic elections but ignoring key opposition demands after a day marred by squabbles and heckling of the Russian foreign minister.

• January 30, 2018

Turkey urged the United States on Thursday to halt its support for Kurdish YPG fighters or risk confronting Turkish forces on the ground in Syria, some of Ankara’s strongest comments yet about a potential clash with its NATO ally.

• January 25, 2018

U.N.-brokered peace talks with the Syrian government and opposition began on Thursday, a few days before separate negotiations hosted by Damascus’s close ally Russia that the West views with suspicion.

• January 25, 2018

China has little room for raising benchmark interest rates as inflation remains subdued and authorities try to reduce the economy’s debt burden, a former vice-governor of the country’s central bank, Zhu Min, said on Tuesday.

• January 23, 2018

Russia proposed on Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council create a new inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, a move the United States slammed as a bid to distract from a French initiative to target perpetrators of such strikes.

• January 23, 2018

Britain will set up a new unit to beef up its efforts to counter so-called “fake news” and to try to deter disinformation campaigns by other states, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday.

• January 23, 2018