On April 30, ethnic Shapsug representatives held a conference in Sochi. The Shapsugs are a tiny remnant of the numerous Circassian tribes who were once the sole inhabitants of the Sochi region and much of the western North Caucasus plains before the Russians overran the... MORE

NATO leaders seem aware of the imperative to escalate the air campaign for a swift successful end to the Libya war, admittedly at the cost of collateral damage. This has become increasingly noticeable in recent days. Russia, which had helped usher NATO into this trap... MORE

(Part One)Since the May 2005 armed uprising in Andijan, the US has been slowly rebuilding its relationship with Uzbekistan, culminating most recently in the Uzbek government’s almost instantaneous agreement to allow its territory to be used by the US Department of Defense as a key... MORE

With the onset of warm weather, radical opposition groups in Tbilisi plan their seasonal regime-change campaign. Judging by their latest declarations, their tactic remains unchanged since 2007: instigating disorder in the capital’s streets to provoke the authorities into using force, hoping thereby to de-legitimize the... MORE

US proposals to reduce tactical nuclear weapons are being carefully and consistently downplayed by Moscow. Mikhail Margelov, head of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee expressed skepticism on the issue following a series of meetings with US defense officials in Washington. Mergelov characterized Moscow’s stance... MORE

On April 29, the Russian security services wiped out the leadership of the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria in a single stroke. Ten rebels, including rebel leader Asker Dzhappuev (aka Abdullah), deputy leader Kazbek Tashuev (aka Abdul Dzhabbar) and Ratmir Shameyev (aka Zakaria) were killed in a... MORE

Despite the distractions of other crises the Russian government continues to plow ahead with its designs for the Balkans, particularly the intended South Stream pipeline. In its quest for renewed influence in the Balkans, Serbia has emerged as an important partner for Russia. And to... MORE

The “No” vote in the UN Security Council on the draft resolution condemning the use of force against the civilian population in Syria marked a significant shift in Russia’s position towards the turmoil that has engulfed North Africa and the Middle East since the start... MORE

International donors committed a total of some 550 million Euros ($790 million) for the Chernobyl Shelter Facility (CSF) fund at the donor conference in Kyiv on April 19. Although this is less than the Ukrainian government originally hoped to raise, it is still an achievement... MORE

The Russian propaganda machine described the death of each and every secondary member of the armed resistance movement in the North Caucasus as having done "irreparable damage to the insurgency." If the man killed in the fighting is among the volunteers from the Gulf States,... MORE