On July 5, Sergei Konovalov treated the world to the birth of military opposition to Russia’s “New Look” defense reforms. According to Konovalov, three senior officers had resigned from their posts and been retired (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 5). The resignations of Lieutenant-General Andrei Tretyak, Lieutenant-General... MORE

On July 14, Tajik authorities released Urunboy Usmonov, a local correspondent for the BBC’s Uzbek service, who spent one month in pre-trial detention on suspicion of belonging to a banned Islamic group. It appears that the unusual publicity and widespread international criticism generated by Usmonov’s... MORE

Although Ukraine has mended fences with Russia and made progress in the political association and free trade talks with the EU since Viktor Yanukovych’s election as president in February 2010, additional movement in both directions simultaneously is hardly possible. The multivector policy, which was chosen... MORE

A series of rebel attacks were reported this past week in Dagestan, graphically illustrating that the republic remains the epicenter of insurgent activity in the North Caucasus.In Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala today (July 22), gunmen targeted Col. Akhmed Bataliev, the head of the republic’s center for... MORE

President Dmitry Medvedev and Chancellor Angela Merkel led the Russian-German Interstate Consultations on July 19-20 in Hannover. This annual event, with the collective participation of Russian and German government ministers and industry leaders, punctuates the gradual integration in key economic sectors of the two countries.Germany’s... MORE

The Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev traveled to Moscow in a sudden rush to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss energy-giant Gazprom’s gas supplies to Kyrgyzstan. Atambayev’s July 20 visit to Russia was unplanned, as he reacted to severe gas shortages in... MORE

News about increased military operations against rebels in Chechnya has unexpectedly been coming out of Chechnya over the last two months. What has been unusual about the reporting is that they describe full-scale warfare, which has not taken place in Chechnya since the end of... MORE

The Russian defense industry is in crisis; its officials blame the defense ministry for withholding funds, while Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov in turn accuses arms producers of making weapons of questionable quality and charging unjustified high prices (EDM, July 7). Russia’s ruling tandem of President... MORE

The German government’s cave-in on nuclear energy has opened the gates to a new round of Russian expansion into Germany’s energy sector. This political decision has boosted demand for natural gas overnight, and with long-term consequences in Russia’s favor, since Germany is under-equipped with LNG... MORE

Turkey has hosted an important meeting, which marked the drastic transformation its policy on Libya has undergone. Although Turkey initially expressed strong opposition to military intervention against the Gaddafi regime, over time it adjusted its policy and managed to coordinate it with Western powers and... MORE