The Russian government pledged to manage $3.3 trillion worth of its state-controlled assets more efficiently, including through the continued privatization of state-owned companies. However, the authorities have to prove that the latest privatization efforts could fare better than earlier attempts to sell off state-owned assets.On... MORE

Kazakhstan is well known for the successful transformation of its economy following the country’s independence more than twenty years ago. Its leadership has consistently set ambitious goals to solidify the gains and diversify the economy to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The year... MORE

On February 14, Russian Deputy General Prosecutor Ivan Sydoruk publicly admitted that Dagestan ranked first in the Russian Federation in terms of the number of crimes committed. That same day, Dagestan’s acting president, Ramazan Abdulatipov, presided over a Dagestani government meeting on the issues of... MORE

Russia is always extremely secretive about everything and defense in particular, especially so under former KGB agent President Vladimir Putin. The Russian constitution, adopted in 1993, did include a clause that the nation must have a military doctrine that must be a public document. To... MORE

In the last two and a half years, Turkey’s progress toward European Union membership has been frozen. After successfully closing one of the 35 “chapters” in the EU accession process, no other chapter has been opened; France and Greek Cyprus have been actively blocking some... MORE

Moldova’s Alliance for European Integration (AEI), governing since 2009, has all along been wracked by rivalries, pitting the two smaller parties against the larger one. The lure of Europe, and fear of the strong Communist opposition, have barely kept the AEI together thus far. Meanwhile,... MORE

The idea of redrawing the borders between the republics of the North Caucasus remains a topic of discussion in the region. According to the Karachay expert Rashid Khatuev, the idea of unifying ethnically related groups is not fading within the Karachay-Balkarian national movement. Khatuev asserted... MORE

Since it participates in the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, Russia has a vital interest in developments there. Therefore, Russia’s governmental and expert community reactions to the North Korean nuclear test on February 12 possess importance both for the six-party process and for... MORE

On February 4, a Georgian delegation led by Levan Davitashvili, the head of the National Wine Agency at the Ministry of Agriculture, held another round of trade negotiations with Gennady Onishchenko, the head of the Russian state consumer agency Rospotrebnadzor. After the negotiations, the officials... MORE

Russia’s political-military leadership continues to display interest in the future modernization of the conventional Armed Forces rooted in the adoption network-centric capabilities. The set of interlinked challenges this will present, in terms of technology, force structure, military manpower and combat training are far more revolutionary... MORE