Many of Dagestan’s ethnic groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over living together in a republic in which each group feels “cheated” by the others. Few regions of the republic however, have as much of a chance to successfully secede as southern Dagestan, popularly known by... MORE

Since September 6, protesters have set up a tent city—it has grown to at least 150 tents to date—in Chisinau’s main square, outside the Moldovan government’s building. Leading the protest movement is a small group of journalists and civic activists: The Platform for Dignity and... MORE

Dual armed attacks shook Tajikistan, on the night of September 4, as militants allegedly connected to former deputy defense minister General Abduhalim Nazarzoda fired on a police station and a weapons depot in and around Dushanbe. The resulting firefights with government forces ended with 22... MORE

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili presented his government’s newly appointed minister of foreign affairs, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, at the annual gathering of Georgian diplomats, in Tbilisi. Until September 1, Kvirikashvili headed the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (Civil Georgia, September 1). The appointment evoked a... MORE

On August 22, Russian Deputy Defense Minister General Dmitry Bulgakov stated that as of the end of July, Russia had deployed 500 railway troops to restore the portion of the north-south Abkhazian railway that became non-operational since the 1992–1993 war in Abkhazia. General Bulgakov specifically... MORE

Brutal police operations in Kabardino-Balkaria in recent months have prompted some experts to conclude that the republic’s governor is building a “police republic.” Yuri Kokov has ruled Kabardino-Balkaria since December 2013, although he was officially appointed governor in October 2014. A career police official, Kokov... MORE

Russia’s Armed Forces conducted a military exercise indicating Moscow’s intent and planning to use military force to thwart future “color revolutions.” Elite Airborne Forces and special forces from Russia, Belarus and Serbia participated in Slavyanskoye Bratstvo (Slavic Brotherhood) 2015, signaling that color revolutions—as a potential... MORE

In mid-August 2015, two major events took center stage in media coverage of Belarus: the trip to Ukraine of Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei as well as the release of six people, labeled political prisoners in the West, by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who pardoned them... MORE

After the scandal following the labeling of the Russian human rights organizations like Memorial, under the leadership of Oleg Orlov, and Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie, under the leadership of Svetlana Gannushkina, as “foreign agents,” it was expected that rights groups in the North Caucasus would be the... MORE

Throughout the year, the Middle East has remained engulfed in conflict as well as intense international diplomatic negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. And just as the United States and other powers are grappling with the threats posed by the violence in the Middle... MORE