In former Soviet Central Asia there is little debate that the root problem [of extremist beliefs] is “foreign ideas,” defined so broadly as to become a target of opportunity for both every political purpose and every local policeman or official’s ambition. Any sign of dissent from state policies or ideology can be enough to bring the wrath of the state, sometimes with great violence.

• March 25, 2013

Cyprus clinched a last-minute solution to avert imminent financial meltdown early Monday after it agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on wealthy depositors in troubled banks to secure a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout.

• March 25, 2013

Gazprom has confirmed its interest in buying a combined cycle generation plants in Europe despite competition from cheap coal.

• March 25, 2013

By George Niculescu,
Head of Research, The European Geopolitical Forum

In November 2012, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Center for a New American Security published a series of papers built upon the "global swing states" concept launched by Daniel Kliman and Richard Fontaine in a report on: "Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the Future of International Order". READ MORE

• March 25, 2013

Japan and the United States have started talks on military plans in case of armed conflict over a group of East China Sea Islets claimed by Tokyo and Beijing, Japanese media said on Thursday, prompting China to complain of "outside pressure."

• March 22, 2013

Russia's state-controlled Rosneft has announced it has finalized deals to gain control of TNK-BP and become the world's largest publicly traded oil producer.

• March 22, 2013

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran will destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it comes under attack by the Jewish state.

• March 22, 2013

President Nikos Anastasiades has announced an agreement between political parties in Cyprus to establish an "investment solidarity fund" as part of a new bailout plan.

• March 21, 2013