On January 27, there was a major clash between security forces and insurgents in the Kizlyar district of Dagestan. Five militants and four servicemen were killed in the incident. According to government officials, Russian Interior Ministry troops and other security units discovered a group of... MORE

Croatia has become the newest member of the European Union, with a national referendum on January 22 capping the accession process. The government-controlled JANAF (Jadranski Naftovod – Adriatic Oil Transportation) enterprise, however, has marked the country’s EU accession in its own way. It has opened... MORE

There has been much more talk about Greece than about Russia at the World Economic Forum last week, which shows that the Davos crowd typically tries to discern the future challenges by looking backwards. The Greek financial fiasco should have been debated two years ago,... MORE

After years of concerted efforts by the Kazakh authorities and hired foreign public relations firms to burnish Kazakhstan’s international profile, the long nourished and cherished image of an open and modern country was brought down like a house of cards over the past month. Firstly,... MORE

On January 16, labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other countries joined an anti-fascist rally in Moscow to commemorate the memory of the slain human rights activists Stanislav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova. Both fought against racial and national discrimination, and were killed three years ago... MORE

Four Russian servicemen were killed and two wounded today in a shootout with insurgents in Dagestan’s Kizlyar district. According to the Investigative Committee’s branch in Dagestan, five militants were also killed in the battle, which took place on the outskirts of the Ukrainsky farm (RIA... MORE

Yevgeny Shevchuk’s victory in Transnistria’s “presidential” election is an opportune development for Russia, at the opportune moment. Moscow was slow to comprehend this, but will almost certainly act accordingly from this point onward. The Kremlin dumped Transnistria’s “president,” Igor Smirnov; supported the almost equally antiquated... MORE

The 21-year “Smirnov era” is over in Transnistria, the secessionist enclave in eastern Moldova. The Kremlin has finally dumped Transnistria’s antiquated “president,” Igor Smirnov. A new-generation candidate, Yevgeniy Shevchuk, defeated both Smirnov and Moscow’s official choice, Supreme Soviet chairman Anatoly Kaminski, in the recent “presidential”... MORE

The activities of the resistance movement in the North Caucasus have tended to spread unevenly across the region so far. The northeastern part of the Caucasus has certainly been leading the resistance for the past 12 years. As we move toward the west, from the... MORE

As the new American ambassador – Michael McFaul – arrived in Moscow, the policy of improving Russo-US relations, known as “reset,” began to unravel. McFaul, as director for Russia and Eurasia on the US National Security Council, was considered the designer of the reset policy.... MORE