The massive relocation of North Caucasians to Europe is still under way, producing concerns among both the regional authorities in the North Caucasus and Western European countries. While in 2000, at the beginning of the second Chechen war, only ethnic Chechens were found among the... MORE

Multiple, if inconclusive, signs suggest that the Western policy of punitive sanctions against Belarus has once again reached a dead end and may soon be reconsidered. Uta Zapf, a member of the German Bundestag, who is about to step down from her chairmanship of the... MORE

Last week (February 27), speaking at a gathering of Russia’s top civilian and military officials led by President Vladimir Putin (the so-called defense ministry “extended collegium”), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu officially confirmed plans to create a permanent “naval operational division” in the Mediterranean Sea to... MORE

The first public debate on the proposed revisions of Mongolia’s mining regulations was conducted at the Citizen’s Hall of the Mongolian government on January 18, 2013. Although the revisions are long overdue, legislators appear to be in agreement that more deliberations are necessary in order... MORE

On February 27, the speaker of Ingushetia’s parliament, Mukharbek Didigov, stated that the moves by the Chechen authorities to take control over a disputed border area will force Ingushetia’s government to adopt “response measures to defend their land and their sovereignty.” On February 9, a... MORE

On February 25, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich traveled to China to attend a first meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on energy cooperation. The commission was formed in December 2012 to replace the bilateral Russia-China energy dialogue. Dvorkovich held talks with his Chinese... MORE

As a series of political crises rumbled through the European Union and the United States, Moldova’s own recent political earthquake has barely registered in the West. Yet, trapped in the biggest political impasse since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldovan ruling elites are engaged... MORE

Many Russians believe that the continuing influx of guest workers from Central Asia and the South Caucasus represents a security threat to their country either because of the supposed contributions of these groups to crime in Russian cities or because of the way in which... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the defense ministry collegium on February 27 that the Armed Forces must reach a “new level” of capability within five years, due to the “dynamics of the geopolitical situation.” Putin’s language concerning defense transformation displays a preference for terms such... MORE

The political situation in Georgia in the past several weeks has rapidly deteriorated. Instead of co-habitation, the president and the prime minister of the country have reverted to playing a zero-sum game that may end in one of the sides completely losing and disappearing from... MORE