The Pantsir (NATO classification: SA-22 Greyhound), produced by the Russian Military Industrial Complex, is a unique mobile short- to medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system that has no known analogues in the United States Armed Forces. On January 23, the Russian side stated... MORE

The constitutional amendments Armenia adopted in December 2015 provided for a fundamental change—shifting from a presidential to a parliamentary system, but establishing a transitional period until the end of Serzh Sargsyan’s second presidential term in 2018. The new president elected by the National Assembly in... MORE

During Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s meeting in Washington with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on January 16, a suggestion reportedly came up to transfer the venue of talks and negotiations about the war in eastern Ukraine from Minsk to Astana. An avalanche of opinions followed.... MORE

Russian affairs used to attract outsized attention at the annual gatherings of the World Economic Forum in Davos. But this year, the global business elite appeared not to be interested in either the problems or opportunities connected to this troubled and trouble-making power. Moscow’s delegation... MORE

The Belarusian opposition is looking forward to the centennial of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR). Proclaimed by a group of nationalist activists on March 25, 1918, this entity existed until December 1918 under German military occupation. The BPR lacked most of the typical trappings of... MORE

On January 21, Musa Musayev, the mayor of Makhachkala, the capital city of Dagestan, was sentenced to ten days in jail before formal charges were brought against him (Chernovik.net, January 21). This is the second case in the last five years of a mayor of... MORE

Since the 19th century, Russian rulers have sought to encourage Russians to move to the Far Eastern borderlands of the country in order to defend it against possible encroachments by China, Japan or even the United States. Sometimes, when people elsewhere were desperate enough, as... MORE

The Syrian civil war allowed the Kurds to form a semi-independent Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, also known as Rojava, dominated by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its affiliated militia—the People’s Protection Units (YPG). In 2012, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad withdrew... MORE

The Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia was hit by a new political scandal on the eve of 2018. Its proximate cause did not appear overly significant at the time, and yet the turmoil it unleashed illustrates the unstable political climate of this breakaway territory. Specifically,... MORE

On January 10, Maltese authorities revealed that 730 prominent Russian businessmen and politicians (along with their families) have acquired Maltese citizenship (Gov.mt, December 22, 2017). The list contains the names of such well-known Russian millionaires, top managers and financial-sector representatives as Arkady Volozh (the principal... MORE