For now, what makes flaring a legitimate issue on the Russian agenda is the embarrassment of the Russian government for the internationally broadcasted satellite images of APG released in Siberia that “challenges China’s Great wall as the most visible man-made phenomenon that can be seen from space.” Thus, the legitimacy and…

Historically, APG (associated petroleum gas) was considered to be a waste byproduct rather than a valuable fuel what entailed a wide-spread practice of venting and gas flaring popular with most gas producing countries. While venting usually presupposes a “direct release of natural gas in the atmosphere” flaring accounts for the…

Many analysts and politicians consider the current political crisis between Russia and the European Union as part of a long-term negative trend that will lead to a further decrease in cooperation between the two parties. In reality, the current crisis is rather a temporary one that mostly concerns the state of relations between Moscow and Brussels…

A Legal Imbroglio in the South China Sea
 
A more concise version of this article was published as a CCTV Panview Oped.
 
The rhetorical war between the China and the United States over the South China Sea dispute is increasing in tempo and magnitude by the week.  The US is wasting no time, resource and effort in sponsoring…

On April 27, 2016, General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, declared that Libya barely existed as a state and was a breeding ground for jihadist networks, like the Islamic State. To justify his grim assessment, Gerasimov accused the United States of using democracy promotion as a pretext to destabilize the Middle East. He…

                             Unafraid, Bi-Partisan, Uphold U.S. and Freedom
 
Donald Trump:  “I don’t bring it [Vince Foster’s death] up because I don’t know enough to really discuss it … I will say there are people who continue to…

The quality of the commercial cooperation between Russian and Western European companies in the energy sector has remained significant, despite the sanctions regime. Strong economic rationale seems to prevail over politics. The German-Russian relations have been the most prominent in the region and have long-existed under the mutual awareness of…

In 1994, when Azerbaijan struck the ‘Contract of the Century’, it seemed that the republic’s future was defined for many years to come. The infamous oil contract has had a tremendous effect on Azerbaijan’s role and presence in the world energy network: an estimated 233 billion barrels worth of oil made Azerbaijan a new Saudi Arabia at the…

he Southeast Asian bloc of nations formed the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of last year, moving one step closer to full integration and creating a more formalized market of over 600 million people, which is larger than the EU. The region has an abundance of economic potential, which is giving rise…

             “Unafraid, Bi-partisan, Uphold U.S. and Freedom.”
  
“The U.S. political establishment will unite to defeat Donald Trump and do whatever it takes to prevent him taking the White House!”  As a prominent Russian analyst friend explained to these writers, senior…

The Ukrainian crisis, first political, turned out to be a geo-strategic issue, that could only be solved within the European continent.
 
The Normandy format was initiated in Bénouville the 6th of June 2014 at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day, with the objective to allow a first encounter between Poroshenko and Putin…

The Yamal LNG project has recently demonstrated that Russia’s eastward pivot may in fact provide a solution to the financial constrains, imposed as a result of the Ukraine-related Western sanctions against Russian companies and individuals. Russian, French and Chinese investors have found a way to guarantee the completion of the Yamal LNG…