Russia & Caucasus

Russian soldiers fold the national flag during a ceremony marking the beginning of the CSTO withdrawal from Kazakhstan in Almaty on Jan. 13.
International relations

Russian-led CSTO's Kazakhstan mission leaves lingering bootprints

Analysts see short deployment putting Moscow's security stamp on Central Asia

15 January 2022
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Podcast

Asia Stream: Deconstructing the Kazakhstan Crisis

From mob violence to military intervention, we investigate the unrest in the Central Asian state

14 January 2022
Ukrainian soldiers build a bunker on the front line in Zolote on Dec. 12: it is clear that the West had no appetite to use its military capabilities to deter Russian aggression.
Opinion

Ukraine crisis a warning for Asian nations fearful of China's rise

The West may not be the reliable military partner that many hope

13 January 2022
Collective Security Treaty Organization peacekeepers guard an area in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Jan. 11. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
12 January 2022
A burned car is seen in front of the mayor's office building which was torched during protests triggered by fuel price increase in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Politics

Kazakhstan crisis reveals risk to autocrats from high fuel costs

Strongmen stretch fiscal limits to rein in domestic energy prices

8 January 2022
Russian servicemen board a military aircraft heading to Kazakhstan, at an airfield outside Moscow on Jan. 6.
Politics

Kazakhstan unrest rattles region as Russia steps in: What to know

CSTO intervention raises U.S. eyebrows; China calls turmoil 'domestic affairs'

7 January 2022
A demonstrator waves a NATO flag in front of the Georgian Parliament's building in Tbilisi in July 2019: bing part of the Western alliance was the best hope of defending the country's sovereignty.
Opinion

Putin's claim that NATO threatens Russia is a self-fulfilling prophecy

Moscow's actions have only solidified Ukraine's desire to join Western alliance

6 January 2022
Workers stand at the entrance to a university's residential area under lockdown in Xi'an, China, on Dec. 20. The government maintains a zero-tolerance approach to containing COVID-19.
Politics

China's zero-COVID policy tops risk list for 2022: Eurasia Group

Big tech companies' dominance, U.S. midterms also on consultancy's warning radar

4 January 2022
Air quality in Basra, Iraq is extremely poor as oil refineries continuously flare toxic gas.
Climate Change

Divestment in oil industry adding to global pollution problems

Transfer of green tech to sector slows as Chinese, Russian firms takeover

30 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at an event in Brazil in 2019. Shared antagonism toward the U.S. is a big part of the relationship between Moscow and Beijing.
Comment

Russia and China won't be 'best friends forever'

Moscow's demands to NATO have been tough, but not coordinated with China

27 December 2021
Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Narendra Modi ahead of their meeting in New Delhi on Dec. 6: India is more interested in broadening its multilateral foreign policy vision rather than siding with particular groups.
Opinion

Putin's Indo-Pacific play rattles existing regional alliances

Recent military exercises with ASEAN a Russian foreign policy milestone

20 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a meeting in Moscow on Nov. 30.
Economy

Vietnam poised to resume nuclear project a decade after Fukushima

Hanoi greenlights building small research reactor, joining hands with Russia

19 December 2021
Part of Gazprom's Power Of Siberia gas pipeline to China: The likelihood of a sequel project appears to be growing.
International relations

China, Russia eye supercharged energy ties as shield against U.S.

Xi-Putin talks signal progress toward second gas pipeline from Siberia

18 December 2021
Inside the Mendenhall Glacier ice cave in Juneau, Alaska: Record temperatures are melting the Arctic's ice, with far-reaching implications. (Photo courtesy of the Arctic Council Secretariat/Linnea Nordstrom)
Climate Change

Arctic record temperature of 38 C rings geopolitical alarm bells

Increasingly navigable polar ocean will bring larger military presence: analyst

16 December 2021
A giant screen in Beijing broadcasts news footage of a virtual meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 15.
International relations

Xi, Putin affirm plan to meet at Beijing Olympics in show of unity

Chinese president calls for more 'joint actions' against foreign interference

15 December 2021
Ukrainian soldiers walk past a destroyed house in Marinka, Ukraine, on Dec. 8. Ukraine cannot afford to become complacent.
Opinion

Russia's invading Ukraine will provoke a forcible response

Muscle flexing aside, Vladimir Putin is highly unlikely to launch a war

13 December 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two men spoke in a virtual summit on Dec. 7. (Source photos by AP)
9 December 2021
Technology has replaced journalists as gatekeepers of information, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa says.
International relations

Fake news exploding like 'atom bomb,' says Nobel winner Ressa

Blinken and Russian journalist Muratov also speak at democracy summit panel

9 December 2021
Online fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa is the first Japanese space tourist to travel to the International Space Station. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji) 
Aerospace & Defense Industries

Japanese billionaire makes it into space aboard Russian Soyuz

Yusaku Maezawa's 12-day trip comes ahead of SpaceX lunar mission in 2023

8 December 2021
The summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may see the start of Indian production of Russian AK-203 assault rifles. (Nikkei montage/AP/Gettty Images)
International relations

India, Russia deepen defense ties with AK rifle production deal

Agreement signed on sidelines of Modi-Putin summit and 2-plus-2 talks

7 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. 
Your Week in Asia

Modi-Putin meeting, Summit for Democracy, China WTO anniversary

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

5 December 2021
Suncity's listed units have denied soliciting Chinese gamblers to go to the group's Tigre de Cristal casino hotel near Vladivostok, Russia. 
Travel & Leisure

Suncity shares plunge after Macao arrests gaming group chairman

Company warns loss of founder Alvin Chau's support will have 'adverse affects'

30 November 2021
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been in touch with other countries that the U.S. does not want at its democracy summit.
29 November 2021
A screen displays leaders of the BRICS nations, clockwise from top left, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jair Bolsonaro attending the 13th BRICS summit via video link on Sept. 9: strongmen tend to be weak where it matters most.
Opinion

Why the BRICs nations have not turned the world upside down

Grouping was never ready for today's crop of leaders

24 November 2021
The U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System communications satellite lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance)
Politics

'Razor-sharp precision': Russia hails anti-satellite weapons test

Fragments pose no threat to space activity, Defense Ministry says

17 November 2021