On May 9, the leader of the North Caucasian rebels, Doku Umarov, appointed Ibragimkhalil Daudov (aka Emir Salikh) as the new head of the Dagestani insurgency -- or the “Dagestani front,” in Umarov’s words. Daudov replaces Israpil Velidzhanov (aka Emir Khasan), who was killed in... MORE

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has given the torpid election campaign in Russia an all too familiar direction with the suggestion, or rather the order, to build the Russian Popular Front that would mobilize “everyone who is united in their common desire to strengthen our country,... MORE

Armenia’s domestic political landscape looks set to undergo a significant rearrangement that could have profound implications for the next national elections due in 2012 and 2013. President Serzh Sargsyan has all but warded off another challenge to his rule from the country’s largest opposition force... MORE

Kazakhstan is increasingly uncomfortable within the Customs Union with Belarus and Russia due to the constant attempts by the Kremlin to politicize the structure originally intended to boost trade relations and ensure free movement of citizens, goods and capital within the union. Recently, Grigoriy Onishenko... MORE

Russia’s ongoing intense military campaign in the North Caucasus does not seem to be confined to a single village, district or even republic. Given that the incessant special operations being conducted across the entire perimeter of the North Caucasus republics involve numerous units of the... MORE

Unidentified gunmen fired on a unit of Russian interior ministry internal troops yesterday evening (May 12) as they were conducting a reconnaissance operation in a wooded area of Dagestan’s Tsumadinsky district. An internal troops major was fatally wounded in the attack. A law-enforcement source was... MORE

One week after the publication of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission’s (KIC) report detailing its investigation into the ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, widespread discussion has been triggered in the country. Most local experts agree that the report adds more to understanding the causes and consequences... MORE

More than 20,000 servicemen marched on Red Square in Moscow on May 9, to commemorate victory in the Great Patriot War—9,000 more than on the same day in 2010. The amount of military hardware that rolled by the stands was smaller, however (106 pieces instead... MORE

Clashes between far-right and pro-Russian activists spoilt the Victory Day ceremonies in the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv on May 9. Militants from the far-right Freedom Party beat up pro-Russian activists, who arrived in Lviv from Russophone southern regions, clashed with police, burnt red flags... MORE

On April 15-16, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev adopted a “Road Map” for 2011-2014 to strengthen the strategic partnership between India and Kazakhstan, signing seven agreements in areas as diverse as energy, cyber security, space exploration, education, and hi-tech development,... MORE