Russia Confronts the Limits of Its Influence in Africa as Mali Descends Into Crisis

Iran has intensified pressure on Arab Gulf states while deepening coordination with China amid the prolonged crisis around the Strait of Hormuz and the effective deadlock in negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program and regional security.

Negotiations between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program have once again moved close to collapse after the two sides exchanged tough conditions amid rising tensions in the Middle East and intensifying diplomatic contacts among Washington, Beijing and Moscow.

Beneath the turquoise domes of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, the leaders of the Turkic world gathered for far more than another diplomatic ceremony. The informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States, held on May 15 in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan, became a demonstration of how a post-Soviet cultural association is gradually transforming into a project of Eurasian geopolitical self-assertion.

The state visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Kazakhstan on the eve of the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkestan became not only a demonstration of diplomatic unity across the Turkic world, but also a signal of a gradual shift in the balance of influence across Eurasia.