Central Asia

Daily Memo: Doubts About Iran’s Nuclear Pledges, Alarmingly Low Oil Reserves

Internal discord. CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Donald Trump and other senior officials that U.S. intelligence has serious doubts about Iran’s willingness to meet U.S. demands on the nuclear issue, Axios reported. According to the outlet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have expressed skepticism about the temporary agreement […]

Daily Memo: US-Iran Deal, French Diplomacy in North Africa

Making it official. The United States and Iran will take part in an official signing ceremony on June 19 for the peace agreement reached...

Daily Memo: Developments in the Caucasus and the Middle East

Russia and the EAEU. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in Kazakhstan from May 27-29 to attend a leaders' summit of the Eurasian Economic...

Daily Memo: Pakistan and Iran Seek China’s Help in Peace Talks With US

Appeals to China. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi...

Daily Memo: US Pressure on Cuba, Chinese Delay of Pentagon Visit

Focus on Cuba. The U.S. government has charged former Cuban President Raul Castro with conspiring to murder U.S. citizens in connection with the 1996...

Daily Memo: Putin in Beijing, Russian Drills

Busy visit. Russia and China will sign about 40 agreements during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing on May 19-20. On the second...

Turkey’s Turkic Strategy Meets Eurasian Constraints

The United States continues to pursue a strategy of offloading security responsibilities to regional partners. Implicit in that strategy is the expectation that these...

Daily Memo: Xi’s Opening Remarks, Critical Energy Situation in Cuba

Xi’s opening remarks. In opening statements marking the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing...

Daily Memo: India on Russian LNG, Brussels on Afghan Migrants

Indian hesitation. India has decided it will not purchase Russian liquefied natural gas subject to U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. Indian officials informed Russian Deputy...

Daily Memo: US-China Trade Talks, Japan-Russia Relations

Trump-Xi preview. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit South Korea for economic and trade consultations with the United States on May 12-13, the...

Daily Memo: Accelerating EU Decision-Making, US Counterterrorism Strategy

EU foreign policy. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul presented proposals to accelerate EU decision-making, particularly in foreign and security policy. Elements of the plan...

Global Economic Trends

(click to enlarge) Though global economic growth has stabilized since the 2020 pandemic meltdown, it remains below pre-pandemic averages and unevenly distributed across regions. After...

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