On February 27, Russian state television’s Channel One announced that the Russian and Ukrainian security services had thwarted a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The attack allegedly was supposed to take place soon after the March 4 Russian presidential election. Members of the... MORE

A Sino-Russian Alliance to What End?The emergence of a close alliance between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China would mean a fundamental shift in the strategic balance of power, not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union or the American opening... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych continues reshuffling his government with an eye to the parliamentary election scheduled for October 28. Political lightweights are being replaced with heavyweights and individuals personally loyal to Yanukovych. At the same time, the transfer of the influential election campaign manager for... MORE

The billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the “Georgian Dream” opposition movement, has unveiled the movement’s top team for the upcoming parliamentary elections. A businessman with no previous political experience, Ivanishvili entered politics in October 2011, launched Georgian Dream as a public movement in December, intends... MORE

Presidential candidate and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, elaborated a detailed agenda for Russia’s defense and security priorities for his widely anticipated next term in office. The lengthy article on February 20 in Rossiyskiya Gazeta covered important aspects of defense, including the modernization of the nuclear... MORE

The fugitive Kazakh banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of embezzling $5 billion from Kazakhstan’s BTA bank, was sentenced on February 16 to 22 months in prison for failing to disclose his assets and lying under oath to the High Court of England and Wales. Justice Nigel... MORE

On February 20, the Memorial Human Rights Center published its October 2011 report on the situation in the mountainous region of Kabardino-Balkaria. The report details the adverse effects of the counter-terrorist regime on the economic situation in this remote and vulnerable republic. A counter-terrorism operation... MORE

The last two weeks before the Russian presidential elections on March 4 saw a pronounced turn toward more aggressive and populist-patriotic campaigning by Vladimir Putin, who appears to be on track to a decisive victory. His team of seasoned courtiers was shocked by the explosion... MORE

On January 27, 2012, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev addressed the people of Kazakhstan with a statement titled “Socio-economic Modernization: the Main Vector of Kazakhstan’s Development.” In what now resembles an American state-of-the-union address, Nazarbayev outlined ten main priorities that will shape the country’s development in... MORE

February 25 will mark the second anniversary of Viktor Yanukovych’s election, during which attitudes toward him and his administration have hardened. But this was not always the case, and views of Yanukovych can be divided into three groups: to order, naïve and realistic.To Order: From... MORE