The new expansion of the European Union gave impetus to the EU ambition  to become a powerful political and economic agent throughout the world,  with a new stimulus. However, inclusion of any new member, especially  Eastern, tends to entail new challenges within both internal and  external relations. This was reflected in the de facto failure of the  latest attempt to formalize the EU institutional fundamentals...

The geopolitical situation has forced a number of realities on regional  cooperation in the South Caucasus. The Iraq conflict has been one of  the key aspects in the regional crisis, due to Turkey's strategic  importance and its close relationship with the "other" Turkic state,  namely Azerbaijan. There is, however, growing anti-Americanism among  the Turkish population, in part the result of anger over the Iraqi  situation and growing concern about the Kurdish "problem"...

Talks about pension reforms have been going on for years without ever  turning into walks. Even when there were things being done, those  activities can be described as arias from the opera "cosmetic  renovations". Everybody seems to accept this, even those responsible  for the field...

On the occasion of the parliamentary elections in the self-declared  Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which were held on June 19, 2005, yet  another round of political meddling and bickering was in the works,  with statements from leaders of countries - in the region as well as  outside it - that have an interest in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,  either literally or figuratively...

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the countries of the West and  international financial organizations based on the western capitals  spent billions of dollars, provided technical and consulting assistance  to mold the developmental processes of newly independent countries. The  structural reforms which have lasted for more than a decade were to  resolve one issue only: to lead the former Soviet republics down a  predictable and "safe" road. Whether these reforms have been successful  is a question for another time...