The office of Georgia’s prosecutor general announced it had arrested Secretary General of the United National Movement (UNM) Vano Merabishvili after questioning him for five hours (https://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26090). Merabishvili had previously served as Georgia’s interior minister (December 2004–July 2012) and prime minister (July–October 2012). He has... MORE

In his childhood, Vladislav Surkov, an ethnic Chechen by birth, initially had his father’s surname, Dudaev—a surname that is related to the Zandak teip (clan) (www.anticompromat.org/surkov/surkbio.html). However, with Russian first and last names, he managed to achieve not simply a breathtaking career, but to become... MORE

Vladimir Putin’s third presidential term began on May 7, 2012, and has been dominated by an increasingly vicious campaign of suppression of civil society and of any public manifestations of political dissent. Human rights and non-governmental advocacy groups are being labeled “foreign agents”—essentially spies for... MORE

The jihadist network in Kazakhstan, inspired and financed by al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the Caucasus Emirate, has shifted from a loose grouping of largely autonomous jamaats into a unified movement that threatens not only Kazakhstan but Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and portions of Uzbekistan as well, according... MORE

Tatar and Bashkir civil organizations are moving toward the forging of an alliance, regional and Russian experts say. “Bashkir nationalists have tried to find support among Tatar and Ugro-Finnish nationalists for several years, but their attempts were unsuccessful,” Bashkir analyst Ed Murzin told the Regnum... MORE

Moldova’s move from one-party Communist rule to coalition government has led straight to conflict for control of state institutions among the coalition’s parties. That conflict has destroyed the governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI). The distribution of power among the three parties of the defunct... MORE

The downfall of Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI), and the earlier collapse of Ukraine’s Orange coalition, are comparable processes in their origins and their consequences. There is also one major difference. In Moldova, a pro-Europe team fit to govern under prime-minister-designate Iurie Leanca... MORE

Tension has gripped Tajikistan over the past several weeks in response to the establishment of a new political party. The founding of this party by reputable political, business and academic elites has awakened the public and represents a new phenomenon in the political life of... MORE

On May 17, several hundred gay rights activists from the organization Identoba (Identity) attempted to hold a rally in central Tbilisi to mark the International Day Against Homophobia (https://www.tabula.ge/ge/story/71188-17-maisis-aqcia-live-feed). Although the government deployed police to protect the demonstrators, thousands of anti-gay mobs led by radical... MORE

Six months after his appointment as Russia’s defense minister, Army-General Sergei Shoigu has initiated a number of policy reversals in key areas of his predecessor’s Armed Forces reform. Some of these changes were small measures, however in a number of his recent actions Shoigu has... MORE