Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA WALKS THE TIGHTROPE BETWEEN IRAN AND WASHINGTON
The virtually simultaneous revelation of U.S. contingency -- and even operational -- planning for Iran by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker magazine and of Iran's capacity for enhancing uranium may not have generated a massive outpouring of overtly emotional replies in Russia. Indeed, Sergei... MORE
MOSCOW STEPS UP ECONOMIC, POLITICAL TIES WITH UZBEKISTAN
As Tashkent drifts closer towards Moscow-led post-Soviet groupings, Russia has lost little time in boosting bilateral economic and political ties with Uzbekistan, Central Asia's major market. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, conferred by telephone on Friday, April 14. Both leaders... MORE
LEADING KYRGYZ ACTIVIST ATTACKED
Prominent Kyrgyz civil-society activist Edil Baisalov was attacked near his office in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on April 12. Baisalov has been an outspoken critic of the dangerous fusion between crime and politics in the country since the March 2005 Tulip Revolution. His concerns... MORE
RUSSIAN PUNDITS SAY WORLD COMMUNITY DOES NOT HAVE LEVERAGE OVER IRAN
The Iranian leadership's announcement that Tehran has successfully enriched uranium prompted two types of reaction among Russia's analytic community. Most nuclear experts flatly dismiss Iran's overly triumphant claims, arguing that the country's specialists are pursuing routine research, that, if anything, the Islamic Republic is still... MORE
KOSOVO AND THE POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS: NO ANALOGY MEANS NO “PRECEDENT”
Russian policy seeks to obfuscate the stark differences between the Kosovo conflict on the one hand and the post-Soviet conflicts on the other hand, as well as between the four post-Soviet conflicts. The most fundamental criteria for assessing the nature of each one of these... MORE
KOSOVO AND THE POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS: NO ANALOGY MEANS NO “PRECEDENT”
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and other officials have shifted their tactics regarding the negotiations on the status of Kosovo. The new theme of their statements and tactical approach to the negotiations is: "No Haste." In their view, the negotiations must prepare a... MORE
ALIYEV’S INVITATION TO THE WHITE HOUSE: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
Officials in Baku are rejoicing. Three years after his election, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has received an official invitation to visit the White House and meet with U.S. President George W. Bush. In a press release issued by the White House on April 10, the... MORE
PUTIN’S FEAR OF ELECTIONS AND FEAR OF INVESTMENT
Every recent election in Europe has severed a connection with Moscow, allowing Russia to drift further and further away from the rest of the continent. Italy is the latest point in this trajectory since Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's defeat this week signifies for Russian President... MORE
A WEAKENED LUKASHENKA STARTS THIRD TERM
On Saturday April 8, Alexander Lukashenka was inaugurated for a third term as president of Belarus, eight days later than originally scheduled and following the most controversial election campaign in the brief history of the independent country. The stability of his extended presidency rests on... MORE
BAKU PREPARES FOR NEW PHASE IN U.S.-AZERBAIJANI STRATEGIC RELATIONS
As Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev prepares to visit the United States at the end of April, several high-ranking officials from Azerbaijan have already toured Washington and explored ways to strengthen U.S.-Azerbaijan relations. On March 29, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov arrived... MORE