On March 18, the Russian press carried the announcement of the Presidium of the Academy of Military Sciences that the Academy’s General Assembly would occur on March 26, devoted to the assessment of the its work in the period 2005-2010. The presidium also stated that... MORE

As with other great powers, today or in history, the United States has been pressured to balance ends and means to retain its influence in the world, currently marked by power shifts away from the West. The government’s proposed budget of $3.73 trillion for 2012... MORE

An independent group of election observers released in Astana today its assessment of Kazakhstan’s April 3 presidential election. Comprised mostly of political and economic analysts from Washington think-tanks (including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Institute for New Democracies, Hudson Institute, Georgetown University and... MORE

On April 1, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov, and Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, jointly announced that the resignation of the republic’s government was imminent, probably due on April 4. Kanokov held his government responsible for Kabardino-Balkaria’s instability over the previous... MORE

Political agitation in Russia reached a new high on March 30, during a routine meeting of the Commission for Modernization of Economy, where President Dmitry Medvedev instead of promising more money for innovations started with an assessment of the investment climate: “It is very bad,... MORE

As the first anniversary of the April 7 “revolution” approaches, Bishkek is plagued by numerous small riots organized to challenge the parliament and government’s decisions. The riots may also be instigated by competing political forces ahead of the presidential elections later this year. The elections... MORE

The Russian security services is now asserting that the massive terrorist attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on January 24, in which 37 people were killed and 120 more injured, will not be the last action carried out by a shahid (martyr) – meaning a suicide... MORE

The leadership of both Russia and Kazakhstan has announced plans to further develop their energy partnership. However, the two former Soviet allies remain slow to finalize some of their energy projects. Meanwhile, bilateral trade and Russia’s trade surplus has increased.During a meeting in Moscow on... MORE

It has all the accouterments of a real contested election. Four candidates are vying for Kazakhstan’s highest office in the land. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has dispatched its election monitors, thereby automatically giving the upcoming April 3 presidential vote a... MORE

On March 23, the village of Gubden in Dagestan was completely blockaded by Russian military, police and Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After that, the servicemen began to search the homes of local residents. Sources in Gubden told the author of this piece that armed... MORE