
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Kazakhstan’s Senate “Rejects” Planned Deployment to Afghanistan
Kazakhstan’s Senate vote on June 9 to reject plans to deploy military personnel to Afghanistan seemed to mark an apparent blow to London and Washington hoping to persuade Astana to join the coalition. However, the nature of the political controversy in Kazakhstan, triggered by the... MORE

Transnistria Conflict Negotiations On the Brink of a False Start
Negotiators are meeting in Moscow today (June 21) to re-launch the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, the United States, European Union, Chisinau, Tiraspol) for Transnistria conflict-settlement, after a five-year breakdown in the official negotiations. This meeting is expected to decide the resumption of official negotiations... MORE

NATO-Russian Discussions Fail on Missile Defense: Implications for Negotiations on Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons
(Part One)Over the last several months most of the conversation on NATO-Russia cooperation has focused on NATO-Russia discussions of European missile defense. President Dmitry Medvedev during the NATO summit in Lisbon in November 2010 indicated more willingness to cooperate with the Alliance in the development... MORE

Conflicting Reports On the Sale of Belarus Potash Company
At a press conference in the National Library of Belarus for central and regional media, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka denied that his country is in crisis. He defined the latter as a time when enterprises cease production, or else they lack raw materials, they cannot... MORE

Moscow’s Plan to Increase Control over the North Caucasus Imperils its Effort to Modernize the Region
The International Economic Forum took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, over June 16-18. Delegations from the North Caucasian republics attended the event and a special session “North Caucasus: Unlocking the Potential” took place on June 18. From the statements of Russian officials, it transpired that... MORE

Medvedev Speaks Against Putinism and Fails to Disprove Khodorkovsky
The annual economic forum in St. Petersburg is not known for quality debates and builds its reputation around a major political speech traditionally delivered by the leader or a candidate with the ambition to set Russia’s course for years to come. President Dmitry Medvedev rose... MORE

Astana Hosts Islamic Economic Conference Downplaying Political Dimensions
With the recital of verses from the Koran, on June 7 the seventh World Islamic Economic Conference opened in Astana. The widely publicized event marked an important milestone in Kazakhstan’s relations with Islamic states and a new diplomatic overture on the international scene for the... MORE

Series of Violent Incidents Reported in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria
Insurgency-related violence was reported in the North Caucasus this past week, particularly in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria.Two improvised explosive devices were discovered today (June 17) on a gas pipeline in Dagestan’s Derbent district. While one of the devices was being defused, the second one detonated, damaging... MORE

SCO’s Tipping Point in Central Asia
Ten years after its formation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is overshadowing its regional Russian-led competitor the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). At the June 15 SCO summit in Astana, China demonstrated how its economic growth and political influence in the region has superseded that... MORE

Tajikistan Suffers the Effects of Its Porous Afghan Border
On May 31, a group of Afghan cattle raiders stole some 80 cows from a farm in Shurobod district, on Tajikistan’s southern border with Afghanistan. Under the cover of the night, the armed raiders drove the cows across the Panj River, which separates the two... MORE