Two leading Ukrainian political parties convened national congresses in early July to select which candidate to support in Ukraine's October 31 presidential elections. Surprisingly, both parties swung away from President Leonid Kuchma's designed successor, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, and put forward rival candidates. Should Yanukovych... MORE

On July 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his second plenary address to the Russian diplomatic corps. Putin declared that Russia should be at the vanguard of the countries "shaping the new world order." In this respect, Russia's ambassadors were told to do more to... MORE

While there are apparently no leads thus far in the Russian authorities' investigation of the July 9 murder of Paul Klebnikov, editor of the Russian-language version of Forbes magazine, various Western media have made much of the comments by Valery Straletsky, head of Detektiv Press,... MORE

The presidential decree restructuring the Federal Security Service (FSB), which was signed by President Vladimir Putin on July 11 and made public by the Kremlin on July 14, has not amounted to the worst-case scenario that some human rights activists had feared, namely the restoration... MORE

Competing oil pipeline projects in the Russian Far East were the topic of a lively symposium among specialists from Russia, China, Korea, Japan, and the United States at the Slavic Research Center in Sapporo, Japan, on July 14-16. Last year the Russian government surprised observers... MORE

The six-power negotiations over North Korean nuclearization have essentially two purposes. One obvious goal is to resolve peacefully and equitably the crisis generated by Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The second, and less obvious, goal is to codify a new status quo in Northeast Asia and... MORE

After remaining vacant for nine months, the post of Public Defender (Ombudsman) will be filled by a representative of the NGO community. President Mikheil Saakashvili made this decision on July 6 during a meeting in his office with a group of leading Georgian NGOs. The... MORE

The World Bank and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have just released their latest reports on the state of the Russian economy. Both reports are surprisingly bullish about Russia's long-term prospects. Surprising, that is, given the daily stream of news about the bankrupting of... MORE

Ten years ago this month, Leonid Kuchma defeated the incumbent, Leonid Kravchuk, in the second round of Ukraine's second presidential election. Kravchuk had won in the first round of the December 1991 first presidential election, which coincided with the referendum on state independence. This week... MORE

In the first years of independence, ethnic Kazakhs barely made up 40% of the population of Kazakhstan. In a bid to regulate the ethnic balance, particularly in the heavily Russian-populated northern regions of the country, the government is encouraging oralmans ("returnees," i.e. ethnic Kazakhs returning... MORE