On July 6, Dmitry Medvedev was chairing a routine video-link conference from his country residence near Moscow with ministers and governors about the implementation of presidential initiatives to build kindergartens, helping young families with children and promoting state-sponsored primary military cadet academies for teenagers in... MORE

Only two decades ago this would probably have been unimaginable, but today China’s car exports are targeting consumers in the industrialized and emerging countries worldwide. This dramatic car export expansion has also been clear in the adjacent Central Asian region. As China evolves its manufacturing... MORE

On July 5, President Dmitry Medvedev took part in a meeting of the presidential council for the development of civil society and human rights, which was held in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The activities of the law enforcement agencies in the North Caucasus came under severe criticism... MORE

The initial response to the outcome of the discussions on European missile defense at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) on June 9 was quite negative (EDM, June 21, 22). Senior Russian officials at the talks described the results in that manner. Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov stated... MORE

On June 20, the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia issued a statement about the nomination of a candidate for the presidency in the Georgian breakaway territory of Abkhazia. It is expected that Raul Khadzhimba will become the third candidate in the Abkhaz presidential... MORE

In his budget address for 2012-2014 on June 29, President Dmitry Medvedev designated decentralization as one of the Russian Federation’s state priorities. The Russian leader also called for privatization, lowering corporate taxes, the overall diminishing of the state’s role in economic activities and other measures... MORE

The strategic partnership signed between Kazakhstan and China on July 4, 2005 has now taken a significant step toward further expansion, based on political, economic, security and cultural ties. President Hu Jintau and his Kazakhstani counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed to the details of an “all-round”... MORE

Attending the Lithuanian-chaired, Community of Democracies annual event in Vilnius on July 1, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Lithuania’s energy security strategy on its three levels: the national, regional, and European. The political endorsement accompanies specific energy projects being launched by American companies... MORE

Official statistical data released recently says Kazakhstan, which marks its twentieth year of independence this December, has produced around 900 million tons of oil over the last 20 years. Lyazzat Kiynov, deputy minister of the oil and gas industry, announced the government’s plans to increase... MORE

After the colonization of the North Caucasus by Russian troops in the eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries, Russia established Cossack settlements as a form of influence on the local populations. Serving as fortresses, these quasi-military settlements were tasked with protecting the lowlands from highlanders. In other... MORE