A number of British newspapers have reported from Brussels quoting NATO sources that “Russia has agreed to return to the war in Afghanistan at the request of Western states.” A “groundbreaking agreement” with Russia may be announced at the NATO summit next month in Lisbon,... MORE

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met his Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, on the margins of the Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative conference near Athens last week. The positive reporting of the Erdogan-Papandreou meeting marks the deepening rapprochement between the two countries, after their normalization slowed... MORE

As Azerbaijan prepares for its next parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 7, many local and international observers are noting the growing role of religion in single-mandate races. A total of 1,412 persons have attempted to register to compete for 125 seats in the highest legislative... MORE

Russia may have refused to sell the S-300 missile to Iran, but it is hardly refraining from selling weapons to its traditional Middle Eastern friends. Despite its recent agreement to buy drones and other military equipment from Israel and a strong Israeli and US diplomatic... MORE

A massive and bizarre counter-terrorist operation is underway in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria. On October 20, fighting between government forces and a group of armed insurgents broke out in the mining town of Tyrnyauz. A policeman and three rebels were killed in the clash, according... MORE

In the early hours of October 22, three bomb explosions occurred in the central Ukrainian city of Kirovograd, an opposition stronghold. President, Viktor Yanukovych, visited the city later that morning. The explosions targeted the prosecutor-general’s office, interior ministry (MVS) and a court building. The bombs... MORE

On October 19, the European Parliament began to discuss a joint motion for a resolution on the situation in the North Caucasus. The deputies expressed their concern about the unabated violence and human rights abuses by government forces in the region. The Europeans stressed the... MORE

A new study from the Center for American Progress, the think-tank closely linked with the Obama White House, urges the US government to adopt a new, “comprehensive policy” toward Georgia and the Russia-Georgia conflict (“A New Approach to the Russia-Georgia Conflict,” October 2010, www.americanprogress.org.) The... MORE

Moscow has reiterated its pledges to develop the Russian natural gas sector and significantly increase domestic production and exports. However, it remains to be seen whether Russia will be able to deliver on its permanently increasing gas output plans against a background of growing domestic... MORE

On September 2, 2010, the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, signed Order No.707, which approved the adoption of the Georgia’s Threat Assessment Document for 2010-2013. In accordance with Article 61 of Georgia’s General Administrative Code, the aforementioned document replaced the previous Threat Assessment Document for 2007-2009,... MORE