Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s three-day visit to the United States was a well-planned event. Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev did his best to create a favorable climate for the visit long before Nazarbayev arrived on September 26. Up until the very last moment the exact date... MORE

On October 3 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an agreement to set up a gas joint venture based at the Orenburg gas refinery. For the first time Kazakhstan is making a major investment in the Russian economy, as Moscow is... MORE

Armenia’s main opposition forces have opened a new front in their standoff with the government, launching a joint movement against what they claim is the growing role of “criminal elements” in the country’s political life. Influential Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and other leaders of the... MORE

With the presidential election campaign officially opened, Tajikistan’s major opposition parties are refusing to participate in the November 6 vote. To date, incumbent Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov is the only candidate likely to receive a majority of votes. The remaining four candidates are extremely weak... MORE

Ukraine’s independence from Russia is the single largest geopolitical gain to the free world and Ukraine’s neighbors, resulting from what Russian President Vladimir Putin bemoans as “the 20th century’s greatest geopolitical catastrophe.” Ukraine’s independence has transformed the politics of European security generally and the international... MORE

As President Viktor Yushchenko struggles to adapt to a situation in which his party controls neither the cabinet nor the parliament -- and the prime minister is not his ally, let alone his appointee -- he may also lose control of the regions. Prime Minister... MORE

The only European country without a definite status between the West and Russia, Moldova has made its choice in the West’s favor conclusively, but is too weak to implement its choice without hands-on Western political and diplomatic assistance. This moment is one of maximum weakness... MORE

Following the September 17 referendum that approved Transnistria’s secession from Moldova and goal of joining Russia in a Soviet-style 97% vote, Moldova is being pressed into negotiating with Transnistria without even a decent interval. The forces behind such pressure are a familiar constellation: Moscow and... MORE