On January 23, the respected Russian non-governmental research organization the Levada Center held a press conference in Moscow on the socio-political situation in the North Caucasus. Its researchers found that contrary to expectations, poll respondents in the region were more concerned about unemployment and the... MORE

It is becoming clear that there will be major reversals in key elements of Russian defense policy as a result of the fall of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in November 2012. It is also equally clear that the real struggle is over what Serdyukov called... MORE

After a January 27 referendum on the future of Bulgaria’s second nuclear power plant (NPP)  failed to produce a binding result, Sofia announced in a letter to the European Commission its decision to instead construct a new 1,000-megawatt (MW) reactor at the existing Kozloduy NPP... MORE

Politics surely makes strange bedfellows: Some Russian nationalists now take positions on the North Caucasus that would logically lead to the independence that many non-Russian nationalists in that region seek—in effect forming an implicit alliance of two nationalisms that most on each side of the... MORE

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is considering signing into law a new “defense plan,” setting out in a comprehensive document the long-term threat assessment and strategic environment facing Russia over the next few decades. It will mark an effort on a grand scale to re-conceptualize Russian... MORE

Just two weeks into 2013, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the reorganization of the country’s government. On January 16, he ordered the establishment of a new ministry in charge of regional development whose head, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, had previously led the day-to-day activities of the ruling... MORE

“Money loves quiet,” Kyrgyzstan’s President Almaz Atambayev once stated, stressing the need for a better investment climate amid occasional instability plaguing the aspiring democracy, which boasts Central Asia’s first parliamentary system of government (www.members.vb.kg, February 18, 2011).Atambayev, who gained a six-year term in 2011 in... MORE

On January 26, police carried out mass arrests in Stavropol region to prevent ethnic Russians from rallying against the North Caucasians, arresting 87 people in the city of Nevinnomyssk. The protesters’ chief slogan was “Stavropol Is Not the Caucasus!” They demanded the introduction of a... MORE

The traditional Munich security conference had a particular and very different meaning last weekend for US Vice President Joseph Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had an hour-long face-to-face meeting in addition to delivering their keynote speeches. Biden had good reason to be... MORE

On January 28, 2013, Kazakhstan’s Oil and Gas Ministry announced the country had exported 68.62 million tons of crude oil and condensed natural gas in 2012, a 3.3-percent rise over the 2011 figure. In 2013, Kazakhstan plans to produce 82 million tons of crude oil... MORE