Moscow has moved to revive its gas partnership with Turkmenistan and started unprecedented gas imports from Azerbaijan. However, Russia now faces Iranian competition in its gas dealings with both Caspian nations. This month, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom restarts gas imports from Turkmenistan. On December 31,... MORE

Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has begun with a clear indication that the country intends to prioritize security. Astana will present its initiatives for the year ahead to the OSCE on January 14, amid growing signs of pressure... MORE

In mid-October 2009, Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Security Council, used an interview to discuss Russia’s draft military doctrine and highlighted one aspect: the first-use of nuclear weapons in a “preventive nuclear strike against the aggressor” (Izvestiya, October 14). This was not the first... MORE

Municipal elections in Tbilisi and other Georgian cities in the spring will undoubtedly see another round of opposition demonstrations, with Russia ready for some overt involvement for the first time. Moscow is openly advertising its support for former Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, leader of the... MORE

Reversing Carl Von Clausewitz’s dictum, Russia’s emergent policy toward Georgia is essentially a continuation of war by political means. Russia’s 2008 war and three-year economic blockade sought to change Georgia’s Western orientation through regime change in Tbilisi. By the end of 2009, however, Moscow evidently... MORE

The end of 2009 saw a significant cooling of relations between the United States and Azerbaijan. Frustration in Baku with Washington’s policies, if not addressed, might significantly damage the bilateral relationship in the long run and undermine US strategic objectives in the energy-rich Caspian region.Foremost,... MORE

On December 28, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed changing the federal law regarding the numbers of seats in regional parliaments throughout the Russian Federation. The new legislation is designed to establish rules governing the number of seats in regional parliaments, which stipulate a minimum and... MORE

Europe is experiencing an exceptionally cold and snowy winter, but at least Russian gas is flowing at full volume through Ukraine and Belarus with no interruptions. Several times in the last few months Moscow has sent warnings on probable complications to European customers, but each... MORE

On December 16 Gennady Pavluk, a prominent journalist in Kyrgyzstan, was forcefully pushed from a sixth floor window in Almaty with his limbs taped. Pavluk was delivered to a local hospital in a critical condition and died within a few days. Several Kazakh media outlets... MORE

A massive flurry of official statements was released to the Russian mass media by politicians, analysts, and experts on Russia summing up the year 2009 in the North Caucasus. After an assessment of these statements, it is increasingly obvious that the situation in the region... MORE