Winter hit Moscow furiously in the last days of November causing colossal traffic jams, but the political climate remains hot as if the electoral season and the government reshuffle did not end in May. President Vladimir Putin announced plans for several trips and scheduled the... MORE

After a year of encouraging progress in the refitting of a late Soviet–era carrier, which Russia plans to sell to India, the vessel’s latest sea trials in September 2012 ended in failure and disappointment. The discouraging results point to substantial structural problems in Russia’s domestic... MORE

Since the end of Soviet times, the percentage of ethnic Russians in the Circassian republic of Adygea has fallen from 78 percent to 52 percent, the result of the dominance of the minority Circassians in republic institutions and the failure of Moscow to address the... MORE

The world press recently began to discuss the fact that some Chechens are involved in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (see EDM, August 3). The number Chechens fighting in the Syria seems inconsequential. The involvement of Chechens, however, indicates that the Syrian conflict... MORE

The regional tensions precipitated by China’s demand to incorporate virtually all of the South China Sea into its territorial waters are well known and acute. China has previously warned the United States to leave the region and not interfere in China’s “core interests.” What is... MORE

On November 16, Russian prosecutors charged nine citizens of Tajikistan and Russia with membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir and possession of grenades, rifles, TNT, millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit money, and written materials promoting extremism (Interfax [Moscow], November 16). In the months prior, there were... MORE

Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili stated that his trip to Washington, which was scheduled for the end of November, would not take place. The head of the government explained the decision as stemming from technical issues and his busy schedule. However, there is every... MORE

On November 22, the Turkish authorities announced that six people had been arrested in Istanbul for involvement in the murder of Chechen refugees in the city in September 2011 (www.mk.ru/social/news/2012/11/22/777469-politsiya-stambula-zaderzhala-ubiyts-chechenskih-bezhentsev.html).On September 16, 2011, three Chechens were shot dead in Zeytinburnu, one of the busiest districts... MORE

The dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month as a result of an investigation of corruption in the defense ministry–controlled holding company “Oboronservis” (see EDM, October 25, November 1, 8) has been followed this week by further state-sponsored disclosures... MORE

Political instability in post-election Ukraine may soon be be compounded by economic and financial instability that has the potential for social unrest. The World Bank calculates that Ukraine has the second lowest per-capita income in Europe followed by Moldova. Ukraine, which was the second largest... MORE