The top U.S. military officer has denounced Russia for providing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime with anti-ship missiles, saying the weapons will only worsen the Syrian war.

• May 18, 2013

A nuclear-armed Iran would not pose a fundamental threat to the United States and its regional allies like Israel and the Gulf Arab monarchies, according to a new report released on Friday by the Rand Corporation.

• May 18, 2013

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during April 16 th - May 15th 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Domestic politics heat up as the opposition CHP accuses Prime Minister Erdogan of authoritarianism in seeking the presidency after his term as prime minister is up.
• A judicial reform aimed at clarifying aspects of Turkish terrorism laws aims to placate EU critics and could lead to the release of hundreds of imprisoned activists.
• Turkey continues to avoid direct military intervention into Syria’s civil war, though fears of the sectarian conflict’s spread has the country on edge.
• U.S. sanctions aimed at Iran’s nuclear program necessitate Turkish efforts at diversifying its energy reliance away from Tehran.
• Israel makes overtures to Ankara regarding a natural gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean, while TANAP is set for construction to begin following ratification of the agreement by both Turkish and Azerbaijani parliaments.

• May 18, 2013

Increasingly tough financial sanctions, an arms embargo and other international restrictions on trade with North Korea have significantly delayed expansion of Pyongyang's illicit nuclear arms program, according to a confidential report by a U.N. panel of experts seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

• May 17, 2013

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Iran must take part in a proposed international conference to end Syria's civil war, but that Western states wanted to limit the participants and possibly predetermine the outcome of the talks.

• May 17, 2013

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the southern Russian city of Sochi for talks centered on the crisis in Syria.

• May 17, 2013

Yesterday, May 15, the second meeting of the Dialogue on Trade Issues, established in accordance with the "Memorandum on cooperation in trade between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine" was held in Kyiv.

• May 16, 2013

Nuclear talks between Iran and the UN atomic agency failed yet again Wednesday, as a top US diplomat said she expected the IAEA to report Tehran to the UN Security Council soon.

• May 16, 2013