A major advantage of the scheme for consensual rotation between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitri Medvedev by the means of presidential elections was supposed to be a low intensity of infighting in the common court over which they jointly rule. It has not... MORE

Suspected militants have attacked police in Kabardino-Balkaria and Ingushetia, with the latter republic experiencing a recent uptick in insurgency-related violence.In Kabardino-Balkaria today (April 6), two suspected rebels who attacked a police officer were killed in a special operation in Nalchik. According to local authorities, the... MORE

On March 30 on his maiden visit to Moscow, Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev struck a poor deal with Russia. Under imperative instructions from his prime minister, Boyko Borissov, Dobrev tentatively promised a final investment decision by November 15, 2012 regarding the Bulgarian... MORE

The results of the March 2012 national survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (an entity funded by the United States) reveal that the number of Belarusians who trust President Lukashenka has risen to 34.5 percent, which is 10 percent higher than... MORE

March appeared to be a fairly successful month for the Russian security services that carried out counterterrorism operations in Kabardino-Balkaria. On March 29, Kabardino-Balkaria’s parliament, along with republican Interior Minister Sergei Vasiliev, appealed to Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District, Aleksandr Khloponin, asking... MORE

Russian Defense Ministry sources told the semiofficial news agency Interfax that action plans are being finalized to react to an armed conflict involving Iran and its nuclear program. The General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces “calculates” that military action against Iran will commence “in... MORE

On March 26-27, the Fifth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to discuss regional cooperation and efforts to contribute to the stability of Afghanistan. President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan hosted counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran), Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan), and Asif Ali Zardari... MORE

On April 1, Turkey hosted the second meeting of the Friends of Syria group, which produced mixed results as to the future of the Syrian uprisings. While the meeting lent some legitimacy to the opposition organized around the Syrian National Council (SNC) and warned President... MORE

On March 30, an estimated 50 relatives of the murdered member of Karachaevo-Cherkessian parliament, Islam Krymshamkhalov, staged a protest near the office of Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, in Pyatigorsk. Krymshamkhalov was killed near the Karachaevo-Cherkessian Supreme Court in Cherkessk in January... MORE

President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government has so strongly cemented Georgia-US ties that even opposition politicians, such as billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili who ignored the US until now, must reach out to Washington ahead of elections. Georgia is unquestionably the most Western-leaning among the formerly Soviet-ruled countries. Uniquely in... MORE