The purpose of a transitional period between a presidential election and the winner’s inauguration is to secure a smooth transfer of authority to the new leader and his team. Nothing of this sort has happened in Russia in the last two weeks. Outgoing President Vladimir... MORE

With Dmitry Medvedev set to be inaugurated as Russian president in May and to name his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, to serve as prime minister, speculation over the likely composition of the next presidential administration and the next cabinet has been intensifying. According to Ekho Moskvy... MORE

The application by Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the public prosecutor at the High Court of Appeals (Yargitay), to the Turkish Constitutional Court for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has initiated what appears likely to be a period of sustained uncertainty amid the... MORE

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin will attend NATO’s summit in early April to seek a post-summit endorsement of Moldova’s permanent neutrality, in a document to be signed by the Western powers with Russia. Chisinau defines such neutrality as a commitment to never join military alliances and... MORE

After losing in Kyrgyzstan’s December 2007 parliamentary elections, 50 leaders from 18 political opposition parties formed an alternative, shadow parliament. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s political party, Ak Zhol, which is amply represented in the actual parliament, claims the alternative structure is illegitimate. But growing public support... MORE

While the spotlight has recently focused on Turkey’s army and air force as a result of their recent operations against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Turkish navy has been quietly conducting exercises with allies from distant corners of the... MORE

During a March 8 press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin expressed his acute annoyance with Western policies over Kosovar independence, NATO expansion, Afghanistan, and Western criticism of internal Russian policies. Merkel sounded a positive note, emphasizing cooperation and... MORE

With only three weeks remaining for necessary damage repair prior to the NATO summit, the German government has perhaps irreparably damaged the Membership Action Plan (MAP) goals of Ukraine and Georgia. Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned down those two countries’ MAP candidacies, thereby following the... MORE