Deep winter is approaching in Eastern and Central Europe and the Caucasus, bringing with it the prospect of icy days and frigid nights.
Russian gas company Gazprom has formally started construction of a major pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to a large part of Europe.
Vladimir Putin fired his powerful defense chief over a corruption scandal Tuesday, but a heady mix of sex, power struggles and military vendettas dominated talk in Russia about what was really behind the downfall of the man who has overseen the nation's most radical defense reform in decades.
The Kremlin is watching, European nations are rebelling, and some suspect Moscow is secretly bankrolling a campaign to derail the West's strategic plans.
Global warming has ignited a rush to exploit Arctic resources _ and Greenpeace is determined to thwart that stampede.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted by a 3-2 margin Wednesday in favor of a final rule that drastically expands the scope of government while benefiting state-owned companies in Russia and China. A provision of the massive 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law has the ability to turn the SEC into a global watchdog while potentially causing irreparable harm to U.S. energy interests.
We lost Bulgaria. We are likely soon to lose the Czech Republic. We gained Ukraine. Poland has always stood with us. Germany hedges its bets. France definitely is not with us. The United Kingdom probably will side with us. The Baltic States would love to join us if they have the resources. A fierce battle rages over Romania.
The recent roller coaster in the markets reflects more a concern about the health of European banks than the U.S. downgrade by Standard & Poors. It also underscores a fundamental weakness in U.S.-European Union relations — the lack of a platform for discussing economic and financial difficulties across the Atlantic in a way that parallels NATO.
Barack Obama's "reset" with Russia is looking flimsy in the wake of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's vitriolic reaction to events in Libya last week.
