Opening of Year of Culture and Art of the Peoples of China and Central Asia at the China-Central Asia Summit, Xi’an, May 18, 2023 The Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta carried a report on the eve of the China-Central Asia summit at Xi’an titled “China is changing the format of cooperation with Central Asia.” It anticipated …
US needs a junior partner in the Gulf
US President Joe Biden is dispatching one his top aides to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman The Biden Administration is in a persuasive mood, won’t take no for an answer. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed at a think tank conference in Washington on Thursday that he proposed to travel …
Iran’s SCO membership is a big deal
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi (R) participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Dushanbe on Sept 16-17, 2021 Like in a Wagnerian music drama, there is an associated melodic theme that accompanies the situations behind the two big regional developments last week — the announcement of the AUKUS, security alliance of three “maritime democracies” on …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-20
Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) welcoming Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C), Tehran, Jan. 31, 2021 20. Iran takes good look at Taliban rulers Some strongly worded statements from Iran deploring the clashes in Panjshir Valley created a perception that Tehran might be distancing itself from the Taliban government. Of course, Tehran is …
Russia, China circle the wagons. Iran is in it.
10000 troops from PLA’s Western Theatre Command and Russia’s Eastern Military District wrapped up Zapad/Interaction-2021 exercises in Ningxia region, east of Xinjiang, August 13, 2021 The Tehran Times reported on Wednesday that Moscow has conveyed to Tehran that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has reached a consensus on Iran’s admission as a full member of the …
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China explains its Afghan motivations
The ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the meeting of the SCO-Afghanistan working group at Dushanbe on July 13-14 have thrown light on the templates of China’s approach to the evolving situation in Afghanistan. The elucidation of China’s intentions and motivations by China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is timely …
Russia, China reinvent their moorings in Central Asia
Soldiers from US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division line up in a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III to parachute into a drop zone in Central Asia in a spectacular display of the longest distance airborne operation in military history, Chimkent, Kazakhstan, Sept. 15, 1997. The United States, which was de facto assuming the historical role …
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Return of Great Game in Post-Soviet Central Asia
The Wakhan Corridor: A narrow strip of land in Eastern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, 295 km long and 15 to 57 km wide, connecting Afghanistan with China and passing through the territory of Tajikistan, historically a buffer between Russian Central Asia and British India. The recent Issue Brief by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission …
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