In recent months, Russia has repeatedly used Belarus for provocations against Ukraine. The latest example was the arrest of Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sharoyko by the Belarusian KGB—an incident in which the hand of Moscow is clearly perceptible. The Sharyoko case, as well as a series... MORE

The Russian government is committed to ensuring that Belarus remains dependent on Moscow and serves as a buffer state between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Minskdialogue.by, November 17). But because Russia lacks the ability to win an honest competition for... MORE

In the plenary session of the XIV Forum of Interregional Cooperation of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, held on November 9, the presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced plans for a new railway route from China to Europe via the... MORE

The fall of the main Islamic State (IS) strongholds in Syria challenges Moscow to become more focused on the political process of conflict settlement. Nevertheless, recent diplomatic moves made by Moscow appear rather muddled at first glance. On the one hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin... MORE

The meeting of three presidents—Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani—in Sochi last Wednesday (November 22), was supposed to mark a triumph for Russian foreign policy. But instead, the trilateral summit sent confusing signals and left mixed feelings. A day before... MORE

The Ukrainian Rada (parliament) successfully passed health reform bills on June 5 and October 19. Spearheaded by the American-born, Ukrainian acting minister of health, Dr. Ulana Suprun, the medical reform was strongly criticized in leading Russian media outlets. However, the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine overshadow... MORE

One of the most dangerous times for almost any society is when new leaders decide to launch reforms. On the one hand, elites and even portions of the society that have benefited from past arrangements are certain to try to defend what they have. And... MORE

The Russian Ministry of Defense held a staff meeting on November 7, at which the focus was the fulfillment of the presidential decrees on the military from May 2012 as well as progress in the development of the Russian Armed Forces until 2020 (Mil.ru, November... MORE

“We [in Belarus] have a genre [best described as] complaint songs. We love to take pity on ourselves and to cry out for compassion,” noted Igar Marzalyuk, who heads the Committee for Education, Culture and Science in the Belarusian parliament. Speaking recently at a roundtable... MORE

The government of Kazakhstan has approved an action plan, on October 28, to implement the country’s cybersecurity concept—“Cyber Shield”—by 2022 (Zakon.kz, November 1). The document outlines key areas of state policy that will be required to build a modern yet reliable system to mitigate and... MORE