Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked a great deal of his political credibility on stabilizing war-torn Chechnya, as underscored by his recent appointment of Colonel-General Alexei Maslov as the new Commander of the Ground Forces. Putin told Maslov at a meeting in the Kremlin on... MORE

On November 5, Russia and the OSCE sponsored a meeting in Sochi between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian separatist leader Eduard Kokoiti. This was the first meeting between a top Georgian official and Kokoiti since his election as South Ossetian President in... MORE

The aftermath of the October 3 presidential election in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has finally unmasked Moscow's policy towards Abkhazia. Ironically, Russia has presented itself as a player -- if not instigator -- of the current unrest in Abkhazia. On November 3, the two... MORE

Appearing on national television recently, Deputy Interior Minister Anatoly Vyborov stated that over the last ten months, the amount of drugs seized in Kazakhstan from traffickers increased by 25%, compared to the same period for last year. Police also detained over 4,000 drug dealers. The... MORE

On November 3-5, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visited, for the first time in this capacity, the three South Caucasus countries. He conferred with the head of state, the defense minister, military leadership, and other top officials in each of the three capitals. The... MORE

The October 17 referendum in Belarus was followed by several days of public protests by the opposition in central Minsk. Opposition leaders have suggested different strategies to adopt in the wake of the election and the international reaction to it. Most analysts have concluded that... MORE

As President George W. Bush anxiously awaited the outcome of the Ohio vote count, two of his most prominent fans -- Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi -- were rooting for him in the Kremlin. Bush's victory marked a high point of the Italian Prime Minister's... MORE

The news of George W. Bush's re-election has drawn scant comment from Ukrainian policymakers. This is not surprising, given the fact that the U.S. elections took place just two days after Ukraine's own crucial presidential poll, whose first round ended in a draw between opposition... MORE

The stakes that Russian political elites made in the U.S. and Ukrainian presidential races reveal Russia's growing concern over its leading role in the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to Moscow pundits. While President George W. Bush's reelection is seen by the Kremlin as an... MORE

The Russian government proposes to create a joint entity of the Russian, Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani railways for operating the South Caucasus Railroad, from the Russian-Georgian border via Abkhazia to Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Baku. If created, such a joint company would give Russia a preponderant... MORE