Torture in prisons, mistreatment of prisoners, illegal arrests and abused police discretion have reappeared on the agenda only five months after the Rose Revolution, the leaders of which publicly pledged to put an end to the violence and abuse by the law-enforcement bodies. Georgian human... MORE

Insurgency has intensified in Afghanistan, giving rise to speculation as to whether it is a Taliban resurgence or broader Pashtun rebellion against non-Pashtun Kabul government. US-led coalition forces are girding for more difficult battles ahead. Suspected Taliban attacks against US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan are... MORE

The mood among western observers of the Yukos oil company has shifted decisively over the past week. They now see the company as a lost cause. The embattled Russian oil major has been slowly sinking since the arrest of its president Mikhail Khodorkovsky last October.... MORE

Presidents Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, Askar Akaev of Kyrgyzstan, Imomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan, and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan met on May 28 in Astana for the annual summit of the Central Asia Cooperation Organization (CACO). At Karimov’s initiative, summit leaders invited Russia to join CACO... MORE

The first conference on Russian business investment in Georgia held on May 28-30 was a logical consequence of warming Georgian-Russian political relations after the recent "rose revolutions" in Tbilisi and Ajaria. Continuous economic hardship requires Georgia to seek foreign investment from wherever it is offered.... MORE

On May 24-25 many portraits of President Saparmurat Niyazov suddenly disappeared from the streets of the capital of Turkmenistan. This was done on orders from Turkmenbashi. Hundreds of portraits of the president, which until recently were conspicuous on government buildings, businesses, clinics and schools, disappeared... MORE

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, which had expressed some moderately phrased objections to Georgia’s anti-crime measures in South Ossetia on May 31, (see EMD, June 1) reverted to its familiar style yesterday. Two communiqués in rapid succession described Georgia’s actions as “provocations” -- a serious accusation... MORE

Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry troops, backed up by a special-forces unit, armored vehicles and helicopters, entered the so-called Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone on both sides of the demarcation line at noon on May 31. Tbilisi's move was an instant response to the 10 AM warning by... MORE

Human rights groups in Russia and in the West have reacted strongly to President Vladimir Putin's state of the nation speech last Wednesday, in which he darkly warned Russian civil society that it was too dependent on foreign money. Clearly, when Putin talked about civic... MORE

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was nominated on April 14 as the candidate of the pro-presidential camp for the October 31 presidential election in Ukraine. The nomination came six days after a parliamentary vote on constitutional changes failed. Opinion polls show Yanukovych to have overtaken Communist... MORE