Charles Recknagel is standards editor for RFE/RL.
Defense ministers from NATO states and Ukraine met in Tallinn to discuss Kyiv's prospects for eventual membership in the alliance. Top NATO officials again stressed their desire to one day see Ukraine in the group. But tensions with Russia, and political instability in Ukraine, make it all but certain that Kyiv will not soon be put on the formal path to membership.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has held talks in Poland, the first EU country he has visited since the Russia-Georgia crisis began last month. Appearing afterwards in a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Lavrov affirmed Moscow's opposition to the deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe, and he showed no sign of easing Moscow's tough stance over Georgia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Poland, the first EU country he has visited since the Russia-Georgia crisis began last month. There is much he can discuss with Polish leaders, but most of it would seem likely only to highlight the tensions between Moscow and the West. That is because, quite apart from Poland's strong support for Tbilisi, Russia is also angry with Poland for hosting a planned U.S. missile shield.
The World Bank lists Azerbaijan, Albania, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan among the world's top reformers of business regulations. But are such reforms enough to attract increased foreign investment?
Little wonder that many people -- including in the two countries themselves -- view the outbreak of "football diplomacy" with amazement.
As Moscow promises to begin withdrawing its troops, the way is opening for a clearer picture of what happened during the Russian Army's occupation of Georgia. But there is still no progress on opening a humanitarian corridor between South Ossetia and Georgia proper, and international access to South Ossetia remains tightly controlled.
Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets in Tbilisi on August 12 to underline their desire to put aside politics and show unity in the face of Moscow's incursion into their country. But questions have arisen both in Georgia and in the West over President Mikheil Saakashvili's leadership in the run-up to the crisis.
In the international showdown over Iran's nuclear program, Europe is the player with the greatest economic leverage in Tehran. But Europe has been reluctant to use trade ties to press Iran to give up uranium enrichment. Not anymore.
Negotiations to establish the legal conditions under which U.S. troops will remain in Iraq after their UN mandate expires at the end this year are turning into a political crisis in Baghdad.
The fighting in Beirut is likely to heighten warnings from Washington that the conflicts in Lebanon and Iraq are part of a broader struggle between the West and Iran for influence in the region.
When Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the Iraqi Army to clean out what he called criminal elements in Al-Basrah a week ago, he offered no compromise.
A Muslim girl holds a copy of a book on the Prophet Muhammad in New York City (AFP) PRAGUE, October 31, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Media headlines often speak of tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds in terms of religion.
Iraqi Kurds, threatened with a military incursion by Turkey, find themselves in a pivotal -- and ironic -- position as Ankara and Washington search for ways to end attacks by Turkish Kurdish militants holed up in semi-autonomous northern Iraq.
July 23, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Afghanistan has announced three days of official mourning over the death of the country's former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah.
April 2, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- London says the 15 British sailors and marines captured on March 23 were unlawfully seized in Iraqi waters, while Tehran says they trespassed into Iranian territory.
March 2, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- As the UN Security Council again begins to wrestle with how to answer Iran's refusal to stop uranium enrichment, Washington continues to reserve the right to take unilateral action. U.S. officials say no options are off the table.
February 15, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed U.S. plans to take in at least 7,000 Iraqi refugees. Washington will also provide some $18 million to help with the larger problem of displaced people from Iraq.
The spread of nuclear weapons continues to be a major concern for the international community, and events in 2006 did little to assuage fears.
PRAGUE, November 22, 2006 -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will go to Tehran on November 25 for a three-to-four day state visit.
As Syria and Iraq establish diplomatic ties and Iraq's president travels to Iran for a summit, the United States is considering a regional approach to Iraq's instability.
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