Germany will overhaul its security strategy in coming years in response to Russian attempts to use "power politics and military force" to assert its interests, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

• February 17, 2015

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics
1 January – 5 February 2015
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Fethullah Gulen lambasts the AKP in the pages of The New York Times for Turkey’s perceived lurch toward autocracy. The government responds by seizing Gulen-affiliated Bank Asya for a lack of transparency.
• Free speech and journalism are increasingly under threat in Turkey as the AKP continues to crack down on critics, regardless of the issue.
• Greece’s new right-wing defence minister threatens to undermine Turkish-Greek relations in the eastern Mediterranean.
• The Turkish lira continues to slide against the dollar after the Turkish Central Bank considers cutting interest rates. President Erdogan continues to push for lower rates as a measure of fighting inflation, despite general economic theory to the contrary.

• February 17, 2015

Debt-laden Greece and EU paymaster Germany struck hardline postures ahead of a crucial meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday on the future of an unpopular international bailout for Athens, but France called for a compromise

• February 16, 2015

India sealed a nuclear energy agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday, its first breakthrough with the new government of the tiny Indian Ocean island where China has been building ports and highways in a diplomatic push in recent years.

• February 16, 2015

Assuming a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels in the east holds, the implementation of a special constitutional status for the region is likely to be very difficult, according to Latvia's foreign minister.

• February 14, 2015

Top government officials rallied behind Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez on Saturday after a state prosecutor said he would keep investigating accusations that she tried to cover up Iran's alleged involvement in a 1994 bombing.

• February 14, 2015

China is planning an international tourism zone in its northeastern border area with Russia and North Korea, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, in Pyongyang's latest push for new investment.

• February 13, 2015

A ceasefire between Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces and surprisingly aggressive stimulus from Sweden's central bank injected optimism into global equity markets, which had been numbed by a stalemate over Greece debt negotiations.

• February 12, 2015