Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
PUTIN SETS NEW GOALS FOR RUSSIA’S NATIONAL IDENTITY
At the core of its national identity, Russia is neither a nuclear super-power nor a spoiled petro-state, but a country of hopeless football fans. The Soviet leadership sought to measure athletic prowess by the total number of Olympic medals and ice hockey in particular, but... MORE
WHY YANUKOVYCH LOST ROUND ONE AND WHY HE WILL LOSE IN ROUND TWO
Five days after the election, the final results are still not declared in Ukraine's presidential election. Nevertheless, as opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko declared: "Whatever the authorities might say to us," he won the first round. "And, in the second round we shall finalize this victory,"... MORE
MOSCOW DEFYING OSCE ON THE DEMOCRACY FRONT
Russia has enlisted its supporters among CIS countries to oppose the OSCE's election-monitoring missions and contradict OSCE election assessments. This Russian policy is not in itself new, but was reactive and mostly pro-forma until now. It turned proactive and brazenly aggressive in the parliamentary elections... MORE
CENTRAL ASIA CAUTIOUS ABOUT WESTERN MILITARY AND STRATEGIC INTERESTS
The re-election of President George W. Bush may raise concerns in the Central Asian capitals about the continuation of a unilateralist approach in U.S. foreign policy. Specifically, it will further reveal the nature of U.S. relations with Russia and their potentially significant impact on the... MORE
TURKMENISTAN’S NEUTRALITY AND RUSSIA’S NEW SOUTHERN POLICY
Turkmenistan's official foreign policy of "positive neutrality" is facing new challenges as Russia continues the drive for greater influence over Central Asian affairs. The Turkmen policy of neutrality, announced by President Saparmurat Niyazov shortly after the country became independent in 1991, has successfully enabled the... MORE
OSCE’S YEAR-END CONFERENCE SET TO CONDONE RUSSIA’S FORCES IN MOLDOVA
Next to Georgia, Moldova has ranked near the top of the European diplomatic and security agenda for the last three years. Officially, the OSCE handles the issues of conflict-settlement and Russian forces in Moldova. Nevertheless, the OSCE has now decided to exclude the issue of... MORE
YUSHCHENKO WINS FIRST ROUND OF UKRAINE’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Challenger Viktor Yushchenko won the first round of the Ukrainian presidential elections on October 31 (Itar-Tass, November 2). According to official Central Election Commission (CEC) figures, Yushchenko won 16 oblasts and the city of Kyiv. Besides sweeping western Ukraine, Yushchenko won the whole of central... MORE
UKRAINIAN TV JOURNALISTS PROTEST CENSORSHIP
Attempts by President Leonid Kuchma's administration to silence dissenting opinions on television ran into resistance at a decisive moment in the presidential election campaign. Journalists from most of Ukraine's nation-wide TV channels have vocally protested efforts to muzzle free expression just a few of days... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN EXTRADITES SUSPECTED ISLAMIC MILITANT TO UZBEKISTAN
According to Kazakhstanskaya pravda, officials from the Committee for National Security (KNB) for South Kazakhstan blast extradited Odillkhon Mominov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, back to his homeland. Tashkent wanted Mominov "for his participation in illegal extremist religious organizations of the Wahhabite orientation." According to the... MORE
DAGESTAN: FIGHTING CLANS AND ADVANCING ISLAMISTS
With more than 100 ethnic groups in the republic, Dagestan has a quite complicated structure of government. The republic is ruled by the State Council, in which all major indigenous ethnic groups are equally represented. Members of the State Council and deputies to the republican... MORE