Hot Issue – Al-Qaeda’s Long Game in the Sinai
After Almost a Year, Russia Returns Seized Ukrainian Naval Ships
Facing Up to China’s Military Interests in the Arctic
TurkStream: Triumph or Failure for Russia?
In a grand ceremony in Istanbul, on January 9, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, officially opened the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, running from Russia to Turkey along the Black... MORE
A Year in Review: ‘Quiescent’ Western North Caucasus to Present More Problems for Moscow in 2020
The eastern half of the North Caucasus (see EDM, January 14, 2020) has been more restive in the last 12 months than the western half—indeed, one recent survey of the entire region during 2019 ignored... MORE
Normandy Process Developing Against Ukraine’s Interests
A ticking clock and a shutting trap seem appropriate metaphors for the predicament of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team hoping against hope for “peace” with Russia. The “Normandy” leaders’ (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine)... MORE
With Reshuffle at the Top, the Kremlin Consolidates Russia
President Vladimir Putin once again surprised everyone by using his annual address to a joint session of both houses of parliament to announce constitutional changes, a government reshuffle and the ouster of his long-time loyal... MORE
A Year in Review: Uzbekistan Continues to Open Up at Home and to the World
For Uzbekistan, 2019 was a turning point, marking the third year of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s time as leader of Uzbekistan. That time frame is arguably long enough to enable a population to evaluate the activities... MORE
Is a ‘Soviet Revanche’ Possible in Russia?
At the end of last year, the conference “Russia-2024: Left Turn or National Disaster?” was held in Moscow. One of its organizers, a Russian opposition politician known for his radical-left views, Sergei Udaltsov, called the... MORE
Shoigu Reflects on Russian Military Advances in 2019
Russia’s minister of defense, Army General Sergei Shoigu, used his annual address to the Defense Ministry Collegium, on December 24, to detail the advances in the country’s Armed Forces in 2019. In his speech, he... MORE
A Year in Review: Increasingly Assertive Belarus Resists Foreign Domination
The top stories on Belarus from the past year collectively tended to feature four major interrelated refrains, listed in descending order of frequency: relations with Russia; the national character, including national identity, collective memory, and... MORE
A Year in Review: Republics of Eastern North Caucasus Increasingly Go Their Own Different Ways
The five non-Russian republics in the eastern half of the North Caucasus—Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, North Ossetia and Kalmykia—have enough in common that they deserve to be treated as a region distinct not only from the... MORE