Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
What Caused the Demise of the Caucasus Emirate?
Nearly seven years ago, in the fall of 2007, Islamic militants in the North Caucasus who were unhappy with the ideology of independence for Ichkeria replaced it with an Islamic ideology and declared the formation of the Caucasus Emirate (Kavkazsky Uzel, December 29, 2014). The... MORE
Ukrainian Website Publishes Purported Detailed Russian Invasion Plan of Eastern Ukraine
On June 16, the Ukrainian website Mirotvorets published what are allegedly Russian military draft plans of a massive military invasion of eastern Ukraine. The invasion plan or “special operation of army group ‘North’ ” was apparently put together by the staff of the Western Military... MORE
Bringing Belarus Back in From the Cold (Part Four)
To read Part One, please click here.To read Part Two, please click here.To read Part Three, please click here. To help lessen Belarus’s economic dependence on Russia, and reach out to mainstream Belarusian society, the European Union has a range of non-political instruments available. The... MORE
Is Russia’s Government Planning to Take on Chechnya’s Strongman?
Russian analysts are beginning to wonder whether Moscow has grown tired of Chechnya’s ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov, and wants to replace him. Recent attacks on human rights activists in Chechnya received unusually wide and negative media coverage in Russia, even though years of routine rights violations... MORE
When Will Mikheil Saakashvili Return to Georgia?
The appointment of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili as the head of government administration (governor) of Odesa province in Ukraine produced a wave of speculation about his future plans in Georgia. Immediately after taking office in Odesa, Saakashvili gave several interviews for Georgian media outlets,... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Crackdown on Rumors Fails to Prevent their Spread
On January 1, 2015, the new Criminal Code, which was approved by President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s July 2014 decree, took effect in Kazakhstan. Hailed by the authorities as a means to modernize the domestic penal system in line with international standards, it introduces a number of... MORE
Shapsugs Increasingly Important Players in Circassian Struggle With Moscow
Most analysts concerned with the Circassian issue in the North Caucasus have focused on the three republics where subgroups of that nation are the titular nationalities—Adygea, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria—or on the enormous diasporas in Turkey, Jordan and elsewhere. But another player has emerged in the... MORE
Ukrainian President Replaces Governor of War-Torn Donetsk Province
On June 11, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko fired General Oleksandr Kikhtenko as governor of Donetsk province, roughly half of which is controlled by Moscow-backed militants. Like his predecessor, local steel tycoon Serhy Taruta, who was ditched last fall and elected to parliament from Mariupol (Mariupil),... MORE
Celebrating Russia Day, the Country Finds Itself With No Future
The meaning of Russia Day, the holiday celebrated last Friday, June 12, remains obscure and even foreign for the majority of Russians. Overall, the population has mixed feelings about the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was precipitated by the declaration of state sovereignty of... MORE
Bringing Belarus Back in From the Cold (Part Three)
To read Part One, please click here.To read Part Two, please click here. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s policy is one of benevolent neutrality sympathetic toward Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Belarus’s diplomacy and its trade policies tilt in Ukraine’s favor to the extent possible without... MORE