Ron Synovitz is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic has begun his opening defense statement at his genocide and war crimes trial in The Hague -- describing the Bosnian Serb cause as "just and holy."
A decree issued by Afghan President Hamid Karzai has raised concerns among Western diplomats that Karzai may be trying to prevent fraud rulings against his political allies in upcoming parliamentary elections.
As the 60th anniversary Berlinale film festival enters its final days this weekend, critics are lining up with predictions about who will be awarded the coveted Golden Bear on February 20.
Kosovo today marks two years since ethnic-Albanian officials in Pristina unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. Since then, 65 countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state -- including the United States and most of the European Union.
Hundreds of Afghan families have been fleeing Taliban-controlled territory in the southern Afghan province of Helmand ahead of an expected offensive by NATO and Afghan government troops. As many as 2,000 Taliban fighters reportedly are concentrated and fortifying themselves in and around the town of Marjah.
The European Union says a new Internet decree in Belarus is a "step in the wrong direction" at a time when Brussels is scrutinizing Minsk's record on human rights issues like free speech and freedom of the press. The EU says President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's decree contravenes standards set out in the so-called "Eastern Partnership" -- an initiative aimed at improving ties between the EU and its eastern neighbors.
Economists and sociologists have been examining a study published last year in a prestigious British medical journal that claimed to find a link between "shock therapy" economic reforms and death rates in former Soviet republics. The latest research rejects the widely-reported claim that mass privatization kills.
The international community has been examining the role of NATO's Provincial Reconstruction Teams in delivering aid to Afghanistan. Focusing on lessons to be learned from mistakes of the past, a conference in Prague this week featured frank and open talks between NATO officials, donor countries, aid workers and the Afghan government.
The presidents of Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are meeting in Istanbul today to discuss how they can work together better to resolve conflict with Taliban militants. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai held a bilateral meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, before three-way talks with Abdullah Gul of Turkey.
China's position on the Google dispute, which comes amid attempts by many authoritarian regimes to control the Internet, has led some commentators to question whether a new trend toward local or state control over the Internet is developing.
The year 2009 was a crucial one for U.S. foreign policy on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Bosnia. RFE/RL takes a closer look at developments and challenges involving those countries in the year ahead.
A court in Thailand has extended by 12 days the detention of an aircraft crew that landed in Bangkok with an illegal arms shipment from North Korea. Charged with illegal possession of weapons, four of the crew members are from Kazakhstan while the plane's captain is from Belarus.
The United States and Russia, deeply divided over the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence, have presented opposing arguments about the move to the International Court of Justice.
Controversy is growing over the reported seizure by Iranian authorities of human rights activist Shirin Ebadi's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi disclosed the seizure of her Nobel medal and the freezing of her bank accounts during an exclusive interview with RFE/RL.
Some were peaceful and some were violent. Some were popular revolts and some were orchestrated within the Communist Party leadership. The revolutions of 1989 cast aside Europe's Cold War dictators, paving the way for democracy and the free-market reforms of the 1990s.
A new global address system for the Internet will soon be introduced that will make the Internet even more international -- making it possible for web domain names written entirely in Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, or other scripts not based on the Latin alphabet.
The genocide trial of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic opened in The Hague today with Karadzic boycotting the proceedings. The trial was adjourned, with judges saying they may be forced to appoint a legal team to represent Karadzic.
Ankara says it barred longtime ally Israel from participating in a NATO military exercise in Turkey because of public concerns about Israel's Gaza offensive early this year. But some say it shows that Turkey's military may be losing influence over foreign-policy decisions, and that it could signal a major shift in the geopolitics of the Middle East -- the end of the unlikely but convenient alliance between the two countries' military forces.
The United States and some of its European allies have threatened tougher sanctions against Iran if Tehran fails to prove claims that its nuclear program is only for peaceful energy production. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the threat of sanctions at this time is "counterproductive."
Although many parts of the world are seeing a return to growth after the global financial crisis, Central and Eastern Europe are seeing a much slower recovery. That's the assessment of Erik Berglof, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
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