Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov received their Ukrainian counterparts, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovych, on October 9 at the Novo-Ogarevo residence near Moscow. Ostensibly a private affair to celebrate Putin's birthday, it was used for Putin's ringing public endorsement of Yanukovych's... MORE

Russia's perennial introspection within its security elites, pondering the troubles that have so beset its armed forces generally and in Chechnya specifically, has again broached the idea of creating professional servicemen within its units deployed in Chechnya, and Tajikistan. Hailed as a potential panacea for... MORE

Recent Russian proposals for debt-equity swaps in Central Asia and the Caucasus represent a bold new strategy for extending Russia's influence in the southern tier. Debt-for-equity swaps involve trading debt for ownership shares in enterprises. For more than a decade Russian financial officials have been... MORE

The government of Kazakhstan is targeting the three Baltic states as possible avenues for closer relations with the European Union. In the first years of Baltic-Kazakhstan relations, the Kazakh side invariably stressed the priority of mutual economic interests. This over-cautious attitude was partly prompted by... MORE

Various Russian media have reported that a bill will soon be introduced into the State Duma that will turn the post of city mayor from an elected position into an appointed one. According to the Gazeta newspaper, the proposed system for choosing mayors is likely... MORE

Since October 1 representatives from the headquarters of Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko have discovered over 150 tons of illegal election materials that are both anti-American and anti-Yushchenko (see samples at: www.ham.com.ua/index.php?action=black). The find, estimated at 300 million items, is a critical opposition victory... MORE

According to Minsk analysts, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka is in danger of losing the October 17 referendum. Scheduled in conjunction with parliamentary elections, the referendum seeks to eliminate the presidential two-term limit. In addition, Lukashenka has been potentially ostracized by the unanimous passage of the... MORE

Although the outcome of the chaotic October 3 "presidential election" in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia is still uncertain, one major loser is already known: the Kremlin. Russia's crude involvement in the campaign and its open backing of one candidate in the first contested ballot... MORE

As Afghans prepare to vote in their landmark presidential election on Saturday, October 9, an air of suspense is cloaking the country. The formal campaigning ended on October 6, 48 hours before election day. Interim President Hamid Karzai, backed by the United States and European... MORE

The investigation into the September 1 terrorist attack on the North Ossetian town of Beslan continues. Apart from law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors, the Russian Federation Council and State Duma have also established an independent commission to tackle the problem. Commission members visited North Ossetia in... MORE