?On May 13-14 in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin made his clearest and most purposeful attempt to date at forming a post-Soviet, Russian-led military-political alliance. Chairing a summit of the six member countries of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST), Putin initiated the CST's upgrading into... MORE

...It was a pretty good fortnight in domestic politics for President Vladimir Putin's administration, at least compared to the previous one. Indeed, the Russian leader had capped the first part of April with a gloomy annual State-of-the-Nation address, only to see one of the speech's... MORE

On April 28, the Kremlin scored another "success," this time in Chechnya's neighbor, Ingushetia, where Murat Zyazikov, the Kremlin-backed candidate for the republic's presidency, won a surprise second-round victory. Zyazikov, an FSB general and deputy to Viktor Kazantsev, Putin's representative in the Southern federal district,... MORE

?Meanwhile, preparations for the May 23-26 summit meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush continued over the past fortnight to drive diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States. And if the fortnight previous had been highlighted by an apparent breakthrough in talks... MORE

Two conflicting visions on Ukraine's future are regaining sway in Moscow-Kyiv official relations in the wake of Ukraine's parliamentary elections. Partly released from the constraints of the electoral campaign, which required constant deference to Russia-oriented voters in the east of the country, the Ukrainian government... MORE

...Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the one hand, and Central Asian leaders, on the other, continue to differ widely over America's role in Central Asia. The latest high-level statements, as well as reactions to the Russian-led antiterrorism exercise just held in Central Asia, confirm the... MORE

.Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov delivered his annual address to parliament within four days of Vladimir Putin's State-of-the-Nation address to the Russian parliament. In contrast to the Russian president, Rahmonov acknowledged America's leadership in the antiterrorist effort: "We are thankful to the United States, and to... MORE

The fortnight in Russia's domestic politics culminated yesterday (April 18) with President Vladimir Putin's annual State of the Nation address. Although an unprecedented shroud of secrecy had surrounded the speech prior to its delivery, the Russian head of state had tipped his hand on April... MORE

Putin is not the first--and will most likely not be the last--Russian leader to realize that the state bureaucracy is the main barrier to the country's modernization and development. Indeed, a majority of Boris Yeltsin's annual addresses identified bureaucratic corruption, along with organized crime, as... MORE

With a key NATO meeting and a fast-approaching Russian-U.S. summit serving as a backdrop, Russian and Western negotiators appeared over the past fortnight to have at last broken logjams on a pair of issues that since late last year had stalled efforts to open a... MORE