The US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, visited Uzbekistan as part of a tour of several Central Asian states during February 17-21. At that time, Holbrooke held talks with Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, regarding the US-led offensive in Afghanistan and related international... MORE

The end of March 2010 turned out to be eventful in the North Caucasus. First of all, on March 24 the leader of Kabardino-Balkaria’s Yarmuk Jamaat, Anzor Astemirov, was killed in Nalchik, the republic’s capital. Astemirov, known more widely by the name Emir Seifullah (Kommersant,... MORE

While the Russian press has noted the pledges from Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to begin the ratification process on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) immediately after its signing in Prague on April 8,... MORE

Unfortunately, the terrorist attacks committed in the Moscow metro early in the morning of March 29 were not the first and there is no reason to assume they will be the last. The explosions were set off in a public place in order to cause... MORE

On April 3, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Denisov, noted the generally positive change in the atmosphere between Moscow and Washington, but remarked that the relationship lacks “content.” The increased intensity in bilateral meetings, in his view, needs to be complemented by quality, rather than... MORE

After intense negotiations and the intervention of both President Barack Obama, and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow and Washington announced on March 26 that a new treaty limiting strategic offensive weapons will be signed during April in Prague, replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction... MORE

The main reaction of Circassians living in their historical homeland in the North Caucasus to the seminal conference on the Circassian “genocide” issue held in Tbilisi appeared to be highly positive. Many sounded very enthusiastic about Georgia’s indication of interest in the problem, which is... MORE

The Russian government is apparently moving to operationalize the nominal “union state” with Belarus through a process of economic absorption. Accession to the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union is not protecting Belarus against this process.Russia’s introduction of export duties on refined oil products and “petrochemical raw material”... MORE

In a precedent-setting move, Belarus is suing Russia in the CIS Economic Court. The case at hand concerns Russian export duties on refined oil products and “petrochemical raw materials” to Belarus. The procedure could open the way for recourse to the CIS Economic Court on... MORE

The two terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro last Monday were certainly a shock to Muscovites, who had to re-live the nightmare of 2002-2004, when suicide bombings were a permanent feature of their lives. The double suicide attack in Kizlyar, Dagestan last Wednesday, while not... MORE