On March 6, the U.S. Department of State released its 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, prepared by its Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The annual report contains updates on human rights conditions in countries around the world. This year’s reports on... MORE

Earlier this month the Collective Security Treaty Organization held the third element of its “Rubezh” (Frontier) command staff exercise in Tajikistan. The CSTO was established after the collapse of the USSR in December 1991. The initial CSTO members were Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and... MORE

Since the Kyrgyz government's crackdown on opposition rallies on April 19, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has embarked on a series of suppressive activities against unwanted political figures. The Kyrgyz security service arrested Omurbek Suvanaliyev, former minister of interior and the United Front opposition bloc’s key leader,... MORE

Few observers believe that Russia has played -- or is playing -- a major role in the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. But this fact has not dissuaded Moscow from continuing to push for the realization of its interests insofar as the Korean... MORE

Russia has announced an extraordinary project to build a transcontinental Yakutsk-Magadan-Anadyr-Alaska rail link, which would include the world's longest subsea tunnel under the Bering Strait. However, the news comes as a reminder that Russia's major railway projects in the East tend to be loss-making and... MORE

Hamrokhon Zarifi, Tajikistan’s foreign minister, recently confirmed that Tajikistan’s strategic interests are served mainly through its partnership with Russia. “Russia was, is, and will remain our strategic partner and ally. We have commitments to each other, and, on our part, we will strictly fulfill them,”... MORE