The Russian government is unable to restrain the nationalist trends spreading in the country. On December 11, 2010, Russian nationalists demonstrated just 20 meters away from the walls of the Kremlin in response to the killing of soccer fan Yegor Sviridov in an altercation with... MORE

Aside from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, 2014 also marks the ten-year anniversary of the resettlement of Krasnodar Krai’s Meskhetian Turk population to the United States. Now, with international attention focused on Russia and Krasnodar Krai (the region that comprises Sochi), the timing warrants a... MORE

Following the recent inter-ethnic clashes in Moscow’s Biryulyovo suburb in mid-October, a growing number of Russia-watchers have been predicting the forthcoming establishment of a new nationalist political party. As Russia’s economic growth is slowing down and the country’s political system is invariably corrupt and inefficient,... MORE

Russian efforts to discredit Circassian arguments that that nation was subjected to an act of “genocide” by Tsarist forces in 1864 in Sochi, the site of next February’s Winter Olympiad, have backfired on Moscow. Not only have Russian books and articles provided additional evidence that... MORE

To balance its contradictory goals—advancing Georgia’s Western orientation while conciliating Russia—Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government initiated a “reset” of Georgia-Russia relations from the moment it took office in November 2012 (see Part One, EDM, November 25).Twelve months later, Georgian Dream leaders have no significant Russian... MORE

More than one year after the appointment of Sergei Shoigu as defense minister, Moscow still struggles to fully man Russia’s Armed Forces. Despite official claims that the total under arms is “one million” the recognition of under-manning in the military has now permeated the Ministry... MORE

Following his re-election on October 9, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s first official foreign visit was to Turkey. During the November 12–13 visit, Aliyev met with Turkish President Abdulla Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the chairman of the Grand National... MORE

On November 21, Dagestan’s President Ramazan Abdulatipov made a surprising statement about possible administrative changes in the republic. Speaking at a government meeting in Makhachkala, Abdulatipov said that Dagestan would be subdivided into four areas, each with its own plenipotentiary representative reporting to the head... MORE

Georgia’s Western orientation is the legacy of former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s government (2003–2012), which ended the predecessor governments’ equivocations. A tradition-bound society with almost no historical experience of Europe, very limited comprehension of European norms and values, and isolated during the past two centuries within... MORE

The Ukrainian government’s shocking decision to put on hold the process of finalizing the Association Agreement with the European Union, announced last Thursday (November 21), a week prior the momentous Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, could be interpreted as Russia’s success in sabotaging Kyiv’s “European... MORE