Category: Publications

Strengthening China’s Positions in Afghanistan

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Roman Kot While the United States, against the background of the escalation of its relations with Iran, is dwelling on how to get rid of the consequences of another protracted conflict in Afghanistan by withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, China more and more bluntly demonstrates willingness to fill in this “vacuum”. On the 20th June, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC issued a statement on the Taliban delegation’s visit to Beijing. At the meeting, Chinese experts discussed establishing a peace process in Afghanistan and combating terrorism. It would seem that the level of such a meeting cannot be considered the highest since it was a working visit. China’s long-standing ties with the Taliban, mainly through the intermediary of Pakistani…

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Protests in Georgia. And Lessons for Ukraine

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Victor Hvozd In Georgia, like in Moldova, Moscow is rehearsing technologies of influence on post-Soviet countries   This year, a series of sharp political crises and conflicts resumed in a number of post-Soviet countries. For example, in May–June 2019, this was observed in Moldova, which barely escalated into mass disorder. Today, the same situation arose in Georgia. At this, there is a lot in common in Moldovan and Georgian events caused by internal problems provoked by Russia. Thus, the protest in Georgia arose because of the Russian State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of Russia, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy S. Gavrilov’s statement in the Georgian Parliament. The…

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Israeli-Lebanese confrontation on the Eastern Mediterranean shelf

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Oleksiy  Volovych The natural gas and oil deposits in the Lebanese energy basin in the Eastern Mediterranean, discovered by the American oil and gas company Noble Energy Mediterranean in 2009–2010, have become almost at once exploration and development target for the countries of the sub-region — Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. In 2010, the US Geological Survey previously estimated reserves of hydrocarbons in the Levantine Basin at 3.45 trillion cubic metres  of gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. According to other data, the potential of the region…

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The State Visit of China’s Leader to North Korea as a Way of Pressure on the United States

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Serhiy Polyovyk The attention of European analysts who keep a close watch at China’s activity, was drawn to China’s leader Xi Jinping’s unexpected visit to North Korea. And it’s not accidentally, because Europeans are alarmed by its aggressive policy of gradual capturing key infrastructure of European countries. In particular, the Strategic Initiative “One Belt, One Road” provides for the creation of appropriate conditions for the promotion of Chinese interests, namely, its capital, people, technology in one and only direction — from China to the West. And the fate of the…

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Latin America. Analytical Review 05/2019

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Kateryna Vakarchuk The Political and Economic Situation in May 2019   The countries of Latin America are conducting their own foreign policy courses, seeking new allies and partners. This time, the Cuban leadership, under Helms-Burton Act, in May 2019,  made a number of visits  to countries that provided support to Cuba  in its struggle  against US sanctions, and, interestingly, the European Union was on this list. Venezuela is recovering after Juan  Guaido’s unsuccessful attempt to consolidate power throughout the country and get the military’s support. Brazilian President after 100 days in…

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The Visegrad Group in the Elections to the European Parliament. Prospects for Ukraine

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Serhiy Polyovyk  Elections to the European Parliament, which have recently taken place, are special for Ukraine, including because of the political preferences of deputies and prospects for the development of its geographical neighbors. These include, in particular, the member countries of the informal grouping of the Visegrad Four, namely, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. From the geopolitical point of view, relations with them have always been important. Ukraine even raised the question of joining the group as a fifth member. Founded in 1991, the Visegrad Group has always…

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Persian Gulf: a New Stage of Escalation?

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Vadim Volohov June 13, 2019, in the Gulf of Oman There Was an Attack on Two Tankers: “Kokuka Courageous” under the Panamanian flag (owned by Japan) and “Front Altair” under the flag of the Marshall Islands   In fact, this can already be perceived as a war at sea, and in response, one should expect nothing less than an action against the country that unleashed this war. On the same day, June 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a press conference accused Iran of “provocative actions that greatly…

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Parliamentary Crisis in Israel: Reasons and Possible Consequences

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Oleksiy Volovych In late May, sensational news came from Israel: the Israeli Parlament (Knesset) approved a law on its early dissolution   In late May, sensational news came from Israel: the Israeli Parlament (Knesset) approved a law on its early dissolution. It happened a month and a half after the early parliamentary elections held on April 9. Due to the uncertainty of some potential coalition partners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “Likud” party failed to form a ruling coalition (within six weeks according to the law) by May 29.…

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The “Passport Weapon”

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June 12, 2019, the “Ukrinform” agency hosted a “round table” themed “Russian Passport. Illusion of the  Imperial Gingerbread”, which was attended by analysts of the “Borysfen Intel” Center   Any document can be not only a form of identification of someone or something, but also… a weapon. At least when it comes to the Russian passport and the “Russian World” and its sincere admirers. These two sentences can outline the theme important for Ukraine, which was raised during the international “round table” ( June 12, at Ukrinform), initiated by the…

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Ukraine Is lagging Behind Its Competitors in Relations with China

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Comparative Analysis of China’s Relations with Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in the Context of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative   The global goal of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative has always been establishment of logistics routes to the markets for Chinese goods in the EU. In this context, the leadership of the PRC should pay particular attention to transit countries, through which, in fact, go the routes to Europe. In their turn, transit countries should be interested in establishing such cooperation, hoping for at least multibillion investments…

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