At present, news coming out of Belarus is marked by two particular refrains: the economic crisis and a search for national consolidation. These refrains may be interrelated since negative macroeconomic trends, coupled with a lack of structural reforms that would boost the private sector, make... MORE

As the fragile truce in eastern Ukraine has provided Kyiv with a respite from war, the Ukrainian authorities have begun to purge their own ranks. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who has been in charge of economic policy since the Maidan victory in February 2014,... MORE

On March 19–20, a conference on the Russian language was held in the city of Stavropol (Dagminobr.ru, March 23). Like almost all conferences on language issues, it became quite politicized. While Russian officials pushed for Russian’s status as the country’s state language, the North Caucasian... MORE

In a measure of just how frightened Ashgabat is of the possibility that Afghan radical forces will invade Turkmenistan, it has reportedly allowed Russian and now Uzbekistani military personnel to provide help in fortifying its border and has appealed to the United States for military... MORE

On March 30, Irina Vlah was officially declared the winner of the election for the post of Bashkhan (head of the executive authority) in Moldova’s Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit (Gagauz Yeri). As now confirmed, Vlah won the election in the first round on March 22,... MORE

Russia’s recent “snap inspection” military exercises in Western and Southern Military Districts (see EDM, March 19) and the defense ministry’s plans to reinforce conventional deployments in Crimea (see EDM, March 27) generate an impression of revived Russian military power. However, Russia’s relatively careful and low-scale... MORE

On March 26, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili declared that he was postponing his state visit to Ukraine because he was too busy dealing with Georgia’s domestic affairs. Garibashvili took pains to emphasize that the postponement of his visit was not due to his unhappiness... MORE

The Kremlin press service announced last week that President Vladimir Putin would not celebrate the 15th anniversary of his first election, which occurred on March 26, 2000 (RBC.ru, March 26). Indeed, many murky circumstances cloud his improbable arrival to the summit of power as Boris... MORE

A struggle over history books appears to be unfolding in the North Caucasus. Moscow’s envoy to the region attacked North Caucasus universities for “falsifying history” at a meeting of governors of the North Caucasus Federal District, held in the city of Stavropol on March 20,... MORE

On March 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin, while on a visit to Astana, Kazakhstan, said that Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan—the three main founding members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and formerly Eurasian Customs Union—should consider creating a monetary union. As Putin argued, “working shoulder... MORE