Piracy has a long history and the struggle with it is closely tied to concepts of national sovereignty, freedom of the seas, and the protection of life and property at sea. In 1609, Hugo Grotius, (1583-1645), the great Dutch legal theorist, provided the legal foundation... MORE

Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI) has split yet again, this time over a historical assessment of Soviet rule and Communism in Moldova. On June 28, leaders of three parties, out of the AEI’s four, cancelled literally at the last minute the Parliament’s session... MORE

On June 22, the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau published an article by Andreas Förster entitled “Georgian Mafia Planned a Coup,” in which it was stated that part of the Georgian political opposition received funds from Georgian organized crime networks in Europe to foment unrest in... MORE

The clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the Osh and Jalalabad regions of Kyrgyzstan forced the Uzbek and Kazakh Presidents, Islam Karimov and Nursultan Nazarbayev, to abandon their rivalry and contemplate ways of cooperating in the face of the growing impact of the Kyrgyz... MORE

Just as the worst crisis since the events in Osh in 1990 has erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan, resulting in bloodshed and large-scale internal displacement of ethnic Uzbeks, the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has also faced its most severe test to date. Repeated requests... MORE

On June 24, Moldova’s interim president Mihai Ghimpu issued a decree instituting June 28 as the Day of Remembrance of the Soviet Occupation—an event that occurred on June 28, 1940 in what was then Bessarabia, a part of Romania. The decree does not mention Romania... MORE

In an interview given last fall by the then-Party of Regions defector Taras Chornovil, the Ukrainian politician pointed to current Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s fear of assassination, saying, “Yanukovych liked to repeatedly talk about how there were attempts on his life” (Ukrayinska Pravda, November 16,... MORE

The Russian authorities, Russian-led security grouping, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) made repeated pledges to tackle the Kyrgyz crisis. However, agreement on any practical moves appeared to remain elusive.The CSTO has repeatedly urged restoring stability in Kyrgyzstan. The... MORE

On June 17, the leaders of civil organizations in Karachaevo-Cherkessia condemned the Circassians' resolution, which called for the break up of this small, multiethnic republic in the Northwest Caucasus. On June 5, an extraordinary meeting of Circassians in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, or the "Cherkes" in Russian, called... MORE

On June 21, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, paid a visit to Kazakhstan. Davutoglu met his Kazakh counterpart, Kanat Saudabayev, and President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to discuss the situation in Kyrgyzstan as well as bilateral relations. The two nations agreed to coordinate their assistance to Kyrgyzstan.... MORE