The Russian Interior Ministry (MVD) has successfully completed the first stage of its expanded security role in the aftermath of the Beslan tragedy. It has added to its current responsibilities an additional 440 sites throughout the Russian Federation, many of which include potential soft targets... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin made last week's unprecedented trip to Turkey for several reasons. First, trade, energy, and a shared interest in ensuring the security of the Black Sea and the Caucasus against terrorism are important (RIA-Novosti, December 6). Similarly, Putin has long maintained that... MORE

The OSCE's failed year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7 also marked its conclusive failure as a would-be security organization. Russia demonstrated that it could kill the OSCE's one and only security operation of proven value, the Border Monitoring Operation in Georgia. At the same... MORE

With democratic challenger Viktor Yushchenko all but set to win a repeat presidential runoff in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing his greatest foreign policy crisis. At stake is the Kremlin leader's dream of Russia's greatness, which he perceives primarily as Moscow's ability to... MORE

One of the biggest ironies of Ukraine's democratic "Orange Revolution" is that it will cause difficulties in the European Union, an organization that claims to embody "European values." Had former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election, it would have resolved the EU's dilemma:... MORE

At the OSCE's year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7, Russia ruled out any regional statement on Georgia or Moldova, and vetoed the political declaration's text that read: "Some of the commitments made at the 1999 Istanbul Summit regarding Georgia and Moldova have not yet... MORE

After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania made statements that pointed toward a forthcoming reorganization.... MORE

Ten years ago, Russia was slowly slipping into a quagmire, which seemed shallow at the time but proved to be a bottomless "black hole." Seeking to cover one miscalculation with another blunder, the Kremlin applied increasingly blunt force to the rebellious and conflict-ridden republic of... MORE

U.S. President George W. Bush has thanked Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski for their assistance in negotiating a compromise to resolve Ukraine's ongoing political crisis (Lithuanian Radio, December 9). Poland and Lithuania dragged a reluctant EU into holding three round-table negotiations... MORE

The OSCE is probably the only international institution in which Russia has the statutory power to veto a country's advance toward democracy. At the OSCE's year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7, Russia vetoed part of the political declaration relating to Ukraine, claiming that it... MORE