By Ahmad Alili, Head of Research, Caucasus Policy Analysis Center, Baku

In the real world, we do not have dragons, faceless men, red woman, white walkers or resurrection from the dead. Yet, the public policy challenges facing advisers in the famous Game of Thrones (GoT) TV show mirror those that political advisors to real governments face. We draw parallels to the real world in the way the show's decision-makers and advisers face the same limitations of time, resources and information bias. READ MORE

• July 1, 2019

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia had differences with OPEC over what constituted a fair price for oil, but that Moscow would take a joint decision on output with OPEC colleagues at a policy meeting in the coming weeks.

• June 19, 2019

There is a still a risk that oil producers pump out too much crude and prices fall sharply, Russia’s energy minister said on Monday, suggesting Moscow might support an extension of output cuts at a meeting of leading oil producing countries next month.

• June 19, 2019

Iran has announced it will breach on 27 June the limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium that was set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

• June 17, 2019

Iran and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding over cooperation in the energy sector, the Iranian oil ministry’s SHANA news agency reported on Monday.

• June 17, 2019

A U.S. agreement with Poland to send 1,000 extra troops to the country is a defensive measure needed for its security, the U.S. ambassador to Warsaw said on Monday, replying to accusations from neighboring Russia that the move is aggressive.

• June 17, 2019

By Greta K. Wagner, Student, University of Glasgow, Intern, The European Geopolitical Forum

The Black Sea is often described as a strategic crossroads, which links east-west and north-south transport corridors. Particularly with regard to hydrocarbon resources, the Black Sea serves as a transit route between suppliers in Russia, the Caspian region, Central Asia and the Middle East and consumers in the European Union. Given its strategic importance, the Black Sea is an important puzzle piece for Russia’s “energy superpower” strategy. READ MORE.

• June 13, 2019

By Eduard Abrahamyan, Wider Black Sea & Central Asia regional security analyst

Moscow’s mistrust of the Armenian government headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dates all the way back to his rise to power last year in the so-called “Velvet Revolution.” And that mistrust has persisted despite Pashinyan’s various foreign policy gambits designed to win Russia’s confidence (see EDM, March 21). At the same time, Pashinyan’s domestic agenda—specifically, his determination to dismantle the previous regime’s oligarchic/kleptocratic order, including by prosecuting former president Robert Kocharyan for abuses of power—seems to be increasingly irking Moscow as well. READ MORE

• June 13, 2019