Belarusan economic policymakers have begun once again to court the IMF with promises to restart economic reform. Minister of the Economy Vladimir Shimov announced recently that the country hoped to obtain credits from the IMF of US$350-$400 million to support the currency (Reuters, September 18).... MORE

Belarusan President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is fostering a sense of isolation and national grievance against the outside world, in advance of next month's parliamentary elections. As part of pre-electoral tactics, Lukashenka is attempting to cast himself as the defender of national interests against what he portrays... MORE

The disappearance of a well-known political journalist has again turned public attention to the problem of freedom of speech in Ukraine. Georgy Gongadze was last seen on September 16, leaving the office of the liberal-oriented Internet newspaper he founded, Independent Center for Protection of Independent... MORE

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder completed a lightening visit to Moscow yesterday during which he held several hours of informal talks with President Vladimir Putin. Both men used the occasion to proclaim the visit as an indication of improving Russian-German ties, but the hastily arranged nature... MORE

In the coming months, Russian voters will go to the polls to elect governors and presidents in almost forty regions. As the elections approach, pundits in the national press are finding it increasingly hard to fit events into the framework they had earlier adopted: President... MORE

British Bulldog, an infantry exercise in the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, has been underway since September 18 (to end on September 28) at Latvia's Adazi military base. British instructors are training Latvian troops in tactical combat methods and command procedures. The exercise... MORE

Having defeated the Islamist incursion in Uzbekistan, President Islam Karimov is now denouncing Moscow for exploiting the Islamist threat in order to restore Russian domination in Central Asia. In a series of televised appearances and press interviews in recent days, Karimov lashed out at Russia's... MORE

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has announced a reorientation of his country's policy toward Afghanistan, virtually accepting the fact of Taliban control and, in effect, abandoning the opposition "northern alliance." He made his decision public while meeting with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niazov on September 21-22 in... MORE

and British efforts to maintain the current sanctions regime against Iraq have suffered new blows in recent days as both the French and Russian governments have permitted airline flights to Baghdad. For the Russians, the landing of a Tupolev-154 at Saddam International Airport on September... MORE

In what some observers are interpreting as a sign that Anatoly Chubais is in political trouble, the erstwhile Russian reform icon and privatization architect who now heads United Energy Systems (UES), Russia's electrical power grid, has reportedly left Russia to take a month-long management course... MORE