Whenever a Russian president travels to Asiatic Russia or the Asia-Pacific region, he traditionally enunciates important precepts of Russian foreign policy in Asia. This was true of both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin during all three of his presidential terms. Putin’s recent trip to the... MORE

At 10:30 PM, on August 5, in the Dagestani village of Karamakhi, police on patrol came under attack by unidentified individuals armed with grenade launchers. Three police officers and a local resident received injuries in the incident. “Unknown individuals fired shots at the police officers,... MORE

The death of President Islam Karimov will be a serious test of Uzbekistan’s political stability. But contrary to most gloomy predictions, the country’s leadership was evidently much more prepared for a smooth transition upon Karimov’s departure than had been expected. Central Asia’s most populous republic... MORE

The Russian Armed Forces have begun their pre-announced strategic military exercise “Kavkaz 2016” in Crimea, the North Caucasus, and the Black and Caspian Seas. Reportedly, the exercise, held on September 5–10, “will test the battle-readiness of troops, new weapons, as well as command-and control equipment.”... MORE

Dedicated Belarus watchers are almost certainly bemoaning the recent termination of a reputable non-state polling firm, the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) (Belapan, August 9). Founded in 1992 by Oleg Manaev, a sociology professor at the Belarusian State University (BSU), IISEPS conducted... MORE

The G20 summit in Hangzhou, China (September 4–5), was not expected to produce major news in global governance. But for Russian President Vladimir Putin, it opened a unique opportunity to assert his place among top world leaders. His press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, assured that Russia... MORE

On August 25, the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, held an unusually late, evening meeting with the governor of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The portion of their discussion published on the Kremlin’s official website gave no apparent indication as why this meeting needed to... MORE

Moscow deliberately upped the ante in Donbas and filled the dog days of August with endless speculation that it might launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Interfax, August 15). The cycle of troop movements, placing units on alert, and announcing snap inspections was matched by... MORE

The death of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov at 78 has focused attention on the issue of generational change both past and present across post-Soviet Central Asia. Given the central role played by these five republics’ presidents in the aftermath of the Soviet Union, that is... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building-blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings, not... MORE