When Vladimir Putin traveled to Guatemala three years ago to personally promote Russia's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, he pledged the Games in Sochi would be "safe, enjoyable, and memorable."

• June 7, 2010

Israel has begun expelling the latest group of activists detained for trying to break the Gaza blockade. Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to the US has rejected a probe into an earlier deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.

• June 7, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here today to express U.S. gratitude to this former Soviet republic on the western shore of the Caspian Sea for its contributions to the coalition’s efforts in Afghanistan.

• June 7, 2010

While its relations with Israel continue to plummet to new depths in the wake of the Gaza flotilla raid, Turkey is considering how to handle the US as Washington tries to balance its ties with Jerusalem and Ankara.

• June 3, 2010

The annual report of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute says that the world has never spent more on defense, in spite of the global financial crisis.

• June 3, 2010

Afghan security forces patrol ahead of Wednesday's start of a three-day peace conference in Kabul. KABUL—The Afghan government kicks off a national assembly in Kabul Wednesday, the first in a string of events that officials hope will chart a path to reconciliation with insurgents, seize the political initiative from the Taliban and lay the groundwork for...

• June 2, 2010

Turkey’s importance to the EU should not be underestimated
Turkey’s unique geopolitical position, straddling both Europe and Asia (encompassing its proximity in the Middle East, Caucuses, Balkans, and Black & Caspian Sea regions specifically), has placed the country into a very advantageous position amongst all actors that are involved in any of these areas. Its longstanding membership in NATO and the Council of Europe, in addition to its historical military partnership with Israel, further underscores the fact that Turkey has long been, and continues to be, a partner of strategic importance to the West. Furthermore, with no end in sight to Europe’s reliance on imported Eurasian and Russian gas supplies, Turkey’s territory is the crossroads for the planned NABUCCO gas pipeline, which intends to decrease European reliance on Russian gas.

• June 2, 2010

Despite seemingly encouraging words about freedom of speech from Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, Russian opposition activists were again beaten and detained when they tried to hold peaceful protests across the country yesterday.

• June 1, 2010