On October 14, fresh on the heels of the racially motivated murder of a Vietnamese student in St. Petersburg, four men beat and stabbed two citizens of Uzbekistan in the suburban Moscow town of Dolgoprudny. One of the victims, identified by regional prosecutors as Ihtier... MORE

On October 14, defense ministers from NATO's 26 member countries and Russia held an informal session of the NATO-Russia Council in Romania. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov used the meeting to air recriminations against allies, drive wedges among them, and announce a program of Russian... MORE

"Dangerous uncertainty" describes the current situation in Abkhazia, while the breakaway region awaits the announcement of a winner in its controversial October 3 presidential election. The pro-government and Moscow-backed candidate, Raul Khajimba, and the main opposition candidate, Sergei Bagapsh, have both claimed victory. Both have... MORE

The murder of a Vietnamese student in St. Petersburg has once again underscored the growing problem of racist violence in Russia. Eyewitnesses report that on the evening of October 13, a group of 15-18 young men with shaven heads and black clothes and boots attacked... MORE

"Mediators" Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE are redoubling efforts to refloat the shipwrecked negotiations toward Moldova's federalization. Meeting on October 11-12 in Sofia at the initiative of the OSCE Chairmanship, the three mediators issued a joint statement urging Chisinau and Tiraspol to return to that... MORE

Millions of Ukrainian citizens living abroad have the right to vote in the October 31 presidential election. While provisions for expatriates have been made previously, this election marks the first time the opposition and election monitoring groups have focused on such ballots. On October 12... MORE

Predictions that Georgia might replicate the Russian practice of taming disobedient media owners appear to have come true. The voluntary renunciation by Georgian media mogul Erosi Kitsmarishvili of his lucrative media business has rekindled the thorny question about how Saakashvili's government treats the private media... MORE

There are growing indications that the Kremlin's centralization measures may soon move well beyond what it has thus far made public, including the plan to make the country's governors presidential appointees. In addition, a leading newspaper has reported what it claims lies behind these measures:... MORE

Preliminary returns from Lithuania's October 10 parliamentary suggest that the traditional parties should be able to isolate the surging populist Labor Party after the elections, instead of entering into potentially risky arrangements with this challenger to the political system. The Labor Party, founded by Russian-born... MORE

Russia's reputation as a reliable security partner is currently growing within Central Asia, despite numerous efforts by Western countries to engage the region. Triggered in part by events such as the Beslan tragedy and an impetus toward closer cooperation between the Central Asian states and... MORE