Joint UK-Kazakh military exercises held in Kazakhstan, August 18-25, may herald closer cooperation between the two countries and open future exercises to greater regional participation. This diplomatic success, in the context of the war on terror, promotes British interests in the region and facilitates joint... MORE

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov, speaking during an unscheduled press conference in Tashkent on August 26, revealed key aspects of Uzbekistan's position on responding to terrorism within its borders and illustrated how the Uzbek leader perceives international support for his attempts to counter the terrorist threat... MORE

"An Uzbek is my near-brother" runs a common Kazakh saying, which has lost its original implications since the July bombings in Tashkent. The ever-worsening relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are anything but brotherly. Although Uzbek and Kazakh security forces declared their readiness to carry out... MORE

In mid-August, the Bush administration unveiled plans for the global redeployment of U.S. troops. According to the Pentagon blueprint, around 100,000 U.S. servicemen will be moved from Western Europe and Asia back to North America, while some units will be sent to new forward positions... MORE

On August 25, Saakashvili fired the Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, Givi Iukuridze, and replaced him with his Western-educated deputy, Maj. Vakhtang Kapanadze. Saakashvili explained the move as consistent with the desire to build "a new structure, which will meet NATO standards."... MORE

On August 21 and 27, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin announced that his government would no longer negotiate with Trans-Dniester's de facto rulers, and he criticized the "mediators" [Russia, Ukraine, OSCE] for condoning Tiraspol's repressive actions. The assault on the last few remaining Latin-script schools in... MORE

Just before 6 pm on Sunday, August 29, a powerful bomb blast shook the DynCorp office in central Kabul. Reports say as many as seven people, including some foreigners, were killed. This explosion was one of the biggest of its kind in recent months, and... MORE

Alu Alkhanov, Chechnya's former interior minister, has been elected president of Chechnya with 74% of the vote. The chairman of the republican election commission, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, said that the turnout was around 80% and that there were no reports of serious violations over the course... MORE

The Federal Security Service (FSB) has abandoned its initial opinion that the near-simultaneous crashes of two civilian airliners on August 24 were likely the result of pilot error, mechanical defects, or problems with fuel quality. Within days, the FSB announced that investigators had found evidence... MORE

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), whose application for a Belarusian visa was rejected in late August, has declared that the world community will help the people of Belarus to overthrow the regime of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. McCain emphasized that a regime change did not imply... MORE