by Giorgi KvelashviliU.S Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow arrived in Tbilisi on October 19, for talks with high-level Georgian officials. According to the Georgian media, shortly after his arrival he met with President Mikhail Saakashvili and Secretary of the National... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyThe Ukrainian military has apparently become a victim of the country’s fierce political infighting and might well be on its way to disintegration. For five months Ukraine has been without a Defense Minister, an unprecedented situation in the country’s history. In June 2009,... MORE

by Yuri ZarakhovichIn 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin scrapped the election of regional governors by popular vote and introduced a system which was painfully reminiscent of the Soviet past i.e. - the Communist Party’s Central Committee would “recommend” Comrade X as a Region’s Party Leader.... MORE

by Tammy LynchOn October 19, Ukraine’s presidential election campaign will officially begin, in advance of the first round of elections on January 17. The campaign is set to take place during Ukraine’s worst economic crisis since the mid-1990s, amid an atmosphere of cynicism and increasing... MORE

by Roman Kupchinsky The signing of a general trade agreement on October 14 between two state owned energy companies - Russia’s Gazprom and China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)- to supply China with 68 billion cubic meters of gas yearly, not only caught many energy analysts... MORE

by Giorgi KvelashviliOn October 12 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili convened an extended session of the National Security Council (NSC) of Georgia. Present were permanent members of the president’s main advisory board along with the representatives of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition. Apart from the usual... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyPetro Poroshenko, one of the richest men in Ukraine, and an ally of embattled President Viktor Yushchenko, was confirmed by the Ukrainian parliament on October 9 as the country’s new foreign minister.In the early days of the Yushchenko administration, Poroshenko headed the National... MORE

by Yuri ZarakhovichRussia has urgently launched its second wave of privatization. On the surface this is terrific news for those who missed out on the fantastic opportunities in the Wild East during the first privatization of the early 1990s and have since lamented their fate.... MORE

Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpuby Tammy Lynch If Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was asked today to choose an appropriate city in which to hold the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, it’s a safe bet Chisinau wouldn’t be his pick. Despite protestations of good will, peace and... MORE

by Jiri KominekGazprom made yet another attempt to foil Ukraine’s efforts to reduce its dependency on Russian gas, and thereby weaken Moscow’s control over its neighbor. This time, however, the pressure didn’t come directly from the Kremlin or Gazprom headquarters; rather it came via a... MORE