Kazakhstan's armed forces, greatly in need of financial and materiel support from Western countries, has received a significant boost from Turkey. Turkey has donated more than $1.3 million worth of military and technical equipment to the Kazakhstani armed forces, aimed at contributing to the overall... MORE

Fresh from the massacre at Andijan, Islam Karimov traveled to China in late May, where he received not just praise, but expressions of China's delight at his handling of the uprising. Thus Beijing "resolutely supported" Karimov's repression of the "three evil forces": terrorism, separatism, and... MORE

The composition of Georgia's new Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has already raised doubts about the fairness of the coming elections. In April parliament amended the Georgian election code to change the composition of the CEC and lower-level election administrations. The main point of the change... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's cabinet has decided to re-privatize Ukraine's largest steelworks, Kryvorizhstal, ending months of uncertainty. The government of President Leonid Kuchma sold 93% of Kryvorizhstal's shares to the Investment Metallurgy Union (IMS), controlled by Kuchma's son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk, and Donetsk tycoon Renat... MORE

On June 7 the prominent opposition journalist Batyrkhan Darimbet died in Taraz, southern Kazakhstan. He had been hospitalized since June 2 after a car accident near Taraz city, where he reportedly had gone to set up local branches of Alga, DVK! (Forward, Democratic Choice of... MORE

Afghanistan is facing a bloody summer, after the June 1 bombing of a mosque in Kandahar and an attack in southern Afghanistan on June 8 that killed two American soldiers. Such incidents have raised many questions about the Taliban's current activities (see EDM, June 2).... MORE

Recent weeks have brought alarming developments from Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region. Kidnappings, militant statements, Russian military assistance to the separatists, and fruitless peace negotiations -- the same factors that contributed to armed conflict in the region last summer -- are fully present. On June... MORE

Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, has promised improvements to the Navy in response to the challenge of meeting emerging and future threats to the Russian state or its interests. These reforms, long overdue and vital if the collapse of the Navy is... MORE