Since the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Moscow two weeks ago, President Dmitry Medvedev has been involved in a flurry of external activities from the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy to the informal gathering of several neighboring presidents at the traditional horse races... MORE

As the Turkish government has refocused on civilianization prompting tension with the country's politically powerful armed forces, a liberal think tank launched its second almanac recently, drawing a bleak picture of the country's controversial security sector before further democratization in this European Union candidate country."This... MORE

The inter-governmental agreement (IGA) on the Nabucco project, signed on July 13, depends existentially on Azerbaijan for start-up and first-phase gas supplies. Azerbaijan remains a staunch supporter of Nabucco and other components of the E.U.'s Southern Corridor project, but not an unconditional supporter to be... MORE

The wave of escalating operations by insurgents coupled with a number of high-profile murders and assassination attempts in June has pushed Russia into launching a campaign of pressure aimed at liquidating rebel fighters.Russia's campaign is manifesting itself primarily through methods and tactics employed to put... MORE

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has denied charges that he was involved in the killing of Natalya Estemirova, the Memorial activist who worked in the human rights group's office in Grozny and was kidnapped and murdered on July 15. Memorial chairman Oleg Orlov told Interfax that... MORE

One traditional resource which Russia has valued beyond hydrocarbons and land is vodka, the nation's traditional moral and physical painkiller. Nikolai Kostomarov, a nineteenth century Russian historian, wrote that at the dawn of Russian history a feast was a major social event, with the goal... MORE

On July 15, the Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as the special guest of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, which was held in Sharm al-Sheikh. Gul became the first Turkish president to attend the NAM summit, demonstrating Turkey's... MORE

Reports that the Kremlin plans to open another Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan have appeared over the past week. A delegation of Russian officials led by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov arrived in Bishkek to hold meetings behind closed... MORE

U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden's imminent visit to Georgia will be watched for indications of an American strategic re-engagement with the Black Sea-South Caucasus region. The Obama administration has not yet defined its policy in this regard and the Vice-President cannot be expected to announce any... MORE

After visiting breakaway South Ossetia on July 13 and Russian troops based deep inside Georgia, President Dmitry Medvedev traveled to Novorossiysk to inspect Russia's main deepwater Black Sea port and nearby military facilities. Medvedev visited the Black Sea fleet flagship cruiser Moskva, attended a meeting... MORE