The presidents of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova -- the GUAM group of countries -- will meet on April 21-22 in Chisinau to revitalize the dormant organization and, possibly, to initiate its enlargement. The presidents of Romania, Poland, and Lithuania have been invited to attend... MORE

Following a series of recent setbacks, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been dismissed as an irrelevant institution. In an apparent attempt to reinvent itself, the CIS has clinched a fresh deal with the China-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Yet despite claims of "unanimity"... MORE

Former Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych has taken his first steps to unify the opposition for the first time since he lost the presidential election to Viktor Yushchenko last December. On April 13 Yanukovych presided over a meeting that proclaimed the creation of an opposition... MORE

Kazakhstan has opened a new anti-terrorist training center in Almaty designed to enhance the sophistication and professionalism of some of its most elite anti-terrorist personnel. Located within the existing Police Training Academy, the center will eventually provide courses in anti-terrorist techniques for police officers and... MORE

The Armenian authorities look set to miss a June deadline, set by the Council of Europe, for enacting sweeping amendments to Armenia's controversial post-Soviet constitution. Officials in Yerevan admit that a nationwide referendum on constitutional changes put forward by President Robert Kocharian and his governing... MORE

With its already enormous resources in the Caspian region, Kazakhstan's oil and gas sector has begun to turns its attention toward China's rapidly developing Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. On April 4, the Committee for Sino-Kazakh Energy Cooperation held its inaugural meeting in Astana. The deputy... MORE

At a closed-door meeting on April 9, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sharply criticized his ministers for alienating the general public. Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli later confirmed the tongue-lashing (Rustavi-2 TV, Imedi TV, April 11). Saakashvili had good reason to lecture the cabinet; the latest opinion... MORE

On April 15 in Ashgabat, Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller satisfied Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov's demand to switch to all-cash payments for Turkmen gas delivered to Russia. In return for this concession, Turkmenistan seems set to resume the deliveries, which it halted on January 1, 2005,... MORE

On April 14 in Vienna, the OSCE's Permanent Council approved a Training Assistance Program (TAP) for Georgian Border Guards to replace the OSCE's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO). Russia had exercised its veto power to terminate the BMO as of December 31, 2004, thus removing... MORE