WASHINGTON — The news from Afghanistan on the counter-narcotics front is bad. Opium production from Afghanistan’s 408,000 acres of poppy rose almost 50% in 2006, contributing to global heroin production that set a new record high of 606 metric tons in 2006. The effort to stop the growing and production … Continue Reading…
WASHINGTON — Americans should pay close attention to the news from Turkey. The August 28 election of a new president, which has provoked strong opposition from the powerful Turkish military, is a test of Turkey’s democracy. The visit of Turkey’s energy minister to Iran earlier in August to sign energy … Continue Reading…
At an international biofuels conference hosted in Brussels last week, the EU Commission announced that imports will be an important policy tool in order to reach the EU’s ambitious goal of a 10% biofuels share by 2020. This came at a point when serious … Continue Reading…
Joshua Kucera has written an interesting piece on the emergence of a new U.S. strategic policy for the Black Sea. Of course, there are limitations for the U.S. in dealing with this region at a time when Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran are priorities, however, as this article suggests, … Continue Reading…
Among a number of interesting developments in Belarus in recent days, the Minsk based news agency BelaPAN reported Wednesday that the authorities were considering granting amnesties to certain categories of prisoners. It was not clear whether this would include political prisoners. But given Lukashenko’s new found enthusiasm for better relations … Continue Reading…
Vladimir Putin’s combatative approach to the United States at the Munich security conference this weekend prompted an ironic response from US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. Responding to Putin’s list of accusations over America’s role in the world, Gates said: “As an old cold warrior, one of yesterday’s speeches almost … Continue Reading…
According to an article in the February 9 edition of Izvestia, the Belarusian economy appears to have lost $5 billion in de-facto subsidies from energy price hikes by Russia this January. This estimate, sourced to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko himself, is greater than previous estimates which had ranged from $3.5 billion … Continue Reading…
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was considering forming a gas “OPEC” along the lines of the oil cartel of the same name. Putin was speaking at a marathon, three and a half hour long, press conference in the Kremlin with more than 1,000 foreign and local journalists. The suggestion, which … Continue Reading…