Last week, Russia and Tajikistan signed a deal to extend the lease on Russia’s military bases in Tajikistan for another 30 years until 2042 (Ozodi, September 6). The final deal was struck during an October 5 visit by Vladimir Putin to Dushanbe on the occasion... MORE

On October 6, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov held a meeting of his government’s anti-terrorist commission in the town of Baksan. Kanokov met with the parents of suspected insurgents. The town of Baksan was chosen for the meeting because Baksan district is known as... MORE

President Vladimir Putin quietly celebrated his 60th birthday on October 7 behind the high walls of one of his residences. But his minions, viceroys and oligarchs across the country are trying to outdo one another with gifts and other manifestations of loyalty (RBC Daily, October... MORE

Minsk received bad news and good news this week concerning its foreign policy allies. Shortly after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement Party suffered defeat in the parliamentary elections, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez won reelection in Venezuela. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed that he was... MORE

Kazakhstan has recently participated in international military exercises with its NATO partners as well as through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in what at first sight appears to confirm that its multi-vector foreign policy also strongly influences its defense and security policy. Nonetheless, the... MORE

The Lak National Council was established at a conference in Makhachkala on September 28 that was attended by 427 delegates from Dagestan’s Lak, Novolak and Kuli districts and towns with a significant population of ethnic Laks. The former head of the Dagestani branch of the... MORE

On October 3, the Kyrgyz opposition tried to capture the parliament building, where the office of the president and his administration are also located. The rally resulted in shooting by the police and subsequent dispersal of the protesters. The gathering was organized by leaders of... MORE

An incident in Moscow at the end of September caused tension between Russians and people of North Caucasian descent in the Russian capital. The scandal was triggered by a group of Dagestanis. Following an old tradition, members of a Dagestani wedding procession apparently started shooting... MORE

On September 28, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Erlan Idrissov, who had served as ambassador to Washington for five years, as the country’s new foreign minister. Idrissov, 53 and a fluent English-speaker, had previously served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2002, before serving consecutive... MORE

Beijing and Tashkent have shared concerns and threat perceptions that make them natural allies in coordinating a wide variety of policy decisions. China traditionally has resented the presence of foreign military contingents of hostile and/or competing countries in its neighborhood, fearing possible encirclement and containment... MORE