“What lessons can we learn from the Soviet collapse and apply to the current situation in Russia?
First, we must remember that Russia today is an oil-dependent economy. No one can accurately predict the fluctuations of oil prices. The collapse of the Soviet Union should serve as a lesson to those who construct policy based on the assumption that oil prices will remain perpetually high. It would seem that in our country, which has lived through the collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this fact would be evident. But as soon as the prices went up again at the beginning of 2000 and in 2004 became comparable in real terms to those at the beginning of the 1980s, the idea that ‘high oil revenues are forever’ has gained an even wider acceptance.

• May 20, 2010

Sanctions against Iran which include cargo ship inspections are being tabled at the UN Security Council.

• May 19, 2010

TPAO's winning of a second oil-producing tender will have a positive impact on the relations between Iraq and Turkey, Iraq's minister of oil has said.

• May 19, 2010

The “secret plans” of the Kremlin and Foreign Ministry to improve relations with the West is a topic of heated discussion among foreign policy analysts and journalists.

• May 19, 2010

Russia's on-again, off-again plan to pursue World Trade Organization (WTO) membership bid jointly with Kazakhstan and Belarus (first announced in June 2009) remains up in the air.

• May 19, 2010

This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and India, a momentous occasion that invites reflection on where the two Asian giants are heading in the much-touted "Asian century".

• May 18, 2010

There is a glut for natural gas in the US market as a result of many shale gas discoveries and their rapid development. Consequently, major volumes of LNG originally developed for the US market are being diverted to Europe and other parts of the world

• May 18, 2010

The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil agreed on a formula for a swap of low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel that could ease diplomatic tensions over Irans nuclear program, the Anatolia news agency reported.

• May 18, 2010