International Security Index iSi as of September 1, 2014 reached 2784 points, which is 26 points higher than the previous month. Increase of Index iSi is associated with some falling of military-political tensions in the east of Ukraine, the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas on a permanent ceasefire, the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons.

“Erdogan's Achilles' heel is however the economy; his success ultimately rests on the fact that the economy has improved for the majority; Turkey is however living on foreign loans that have financed the massive rise in internal consumption. This is not a sustainable economic model; it is a bubble that will burst, and when that happens there will inevitably be political consequences for Erdogan's regime”, – Senior Fellow with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, Halil Karaveli.

“India has recently blocked the WTO agreement on trade facilitation. The position of New Delhi is primarily shaped by the issue of subsidies for food production. India has adopted a so-called Right to Food act. In accordance with the law, the government must provide the Indian poor with a minimum amount of food. The norms of the WTO suggest that India should abandon the food subsidies. However, the country cannot do this not only for economic but also for political reasons. Abolishing this law in the near future would be a political suicide for any government”, – Vice President, Observer Research Foundation Nandan Unnikrishnan.

“EU states may be able to supply Ukraine by gas from the west. Alexei Miller, the CEO of Gazprom, only once said that if this happens his company would go to court. The fact he never repeated it again, indicate that the legal ground of say Slovakia, Hungary or Poland selling gas to Naftogaz most probably does not violate the contract between Gazprom and the gas companies of those Central European states. However, it is a problem that this will not cover the need of Ukraine as of late autumn or winter”, – Director of OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Pál Dunay. 

International Security Index iSi as of August 1, 2014 reached 2758 points, which is 9 points lower than the previous month. Further decrease of Index iSi is associated with the sharp aggravation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the launch of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip by Tel Aviv, heavy fighting with radical militants in Iraq and Libya, the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where the Malaysian passenger plane was shot down amidst the fighting between the conflict sides.

“The new government of India took steps to normalize relations with some of the neighboring countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully visited Nepal and Bhutan, Foreign Minister of India visited Bangladesh. Those actions had a very positive impact on regional security. However, I hope that the strengthening of cooperation with India’s neighbors will not remain on paper and will be implemented in practice”, – Vice President, Observer Research Foundation Nandan Unnikrishnan. 

“Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed in Astana Treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). As long as it remains a purely economic union, it will not be a real integration project. But transformation into  the political union, which is not possible in the medium term, would mean serious geopolitical turn of the newly independent states”, - Director of the private research and educational center "Bilim Karvon"("Caravan of knowledge"), Farhad Tolipov.

“For the last four years Libya has been in the grip of militias that respect no law and understand no language but violence. The July violence over groups that control the main international airport south of Tripoli is only another sad example of what the so called revolution brought to the country that used to be cradle of stability and security in the region of North Africa”, - Independent Libyan Academic, Journalist, Mustafa Fetouri.

“The latest events related to the destruction of civil airliner of Malaysian airlines in Ukraine even more seriously aggravate and deepen instability and had a direct impact on the global atmosphere of security. It is difficult to predict how events will unfold after the situation around shot down airliner. Most likely the blame for the incident would lay on the separatists in the eastern Ukraine. As Moscow supports them, for Russia - this situation will be accompanied by high emotional background”, - Member of the Royal Institute of International Relations, journalist Konstantin von Eggert.

“Another important trend that should be taken into account when talking about Eurasian integration is the inevitability of power transition and the rise of a new generation of leaders in countries that participate in the integration processes in the post-Soviet space. It is difficult to predict how smoothly and painlessly this period of transition will pass. This is a serious issue to overcome”, – Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov.