Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai announced his new cabinet on December 23, almost 50 days after his election as president. His new roster reflects bold steps to exclude the powerful warlords from his government while also appointing new and hitherto unknown technocrats and professionals to the... MORE

Speaking at his quarterly press conference, David Woodward, President of BP-Azerbaijan, surprised attendees with the announcement that BTC Co. shareholders, together with the British-Russian oil company TNK-BP, were considering the possibility of transporting Russian oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (Zerkalo, December 22). The independent daily... MORE

Rising world prices for oil and gas, and to a lesser extent for metal products, as well as the dollar's fall, have enabled Turkmenistan to force up the dollar price of its gas deliveries to Ukraine and to present similar demands to Russia. Already in... MORE

On the night of December 25-26, 2004, law-enforcement officials in Tajikistan attempted to apprehend a member of the Islamic terrorist organization Bayat, Ali Aminov, in the village of Chorku, Isfara district, Sogdy oblast (northern Tajikistan). Law-enforcement agents had received a tip that Aminov was hiding... MORE

Russo-Chinese relations in 2004 were not all sweetness and light. Moscow's destruction of Yukos and preference for a Japanese rather than a Chinese pipeline in Siberia put severe pressure on Chinese oil supplies, because Yukos was China's main Russian oil supplier and Chinese demand for... MORE

As Viktor Yushchenko prepares for his inauguration as Ukraine's third president, he knows that Ukraine-Russia relations will be one of the most difficult issues he faces. The Economist (December 29) advised Yushchenko, "to kiss and make up with Russia and Vladimir Putin, who backed Mr.... MORE

Using its veto power in the OSCE, Russia has carried out its threat to terminate the mandate of the organization's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) as of December 31. This unarmed international mission, patrolling the Georgia-Russia border on Georgian territory, has played a key role... MORE

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili delivered his New Year's address to Georgia from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where he had flown to congratulate Viktor Yushchenko on his victory in the presidential elections. This step emphasizes the importance Saakashvili gives to warm relations with a Yushchenko-governed Ukraine.... MORE

Russia's top brass have decided that the best way to halt the decline of Russian airpower capabilities is to upgrade equipment and transform some air elements into effective anti-terrorist strike forces. Therefore in 2005 the Russian air force will continue to rely heavily upon extending... MORE