Two NATO-sponsored military exercises are currently underway in the Baltic States. Amber Hope-99, in progress since September 13 at the Rukla training grounds in Lithuania, is the largest land exercise anywhere held under NATO's Partnership for Peace program this year. A total of 1,500 troops... MORE

Despite disavowals by U.S. and British officials yesterday, UN Security Council members are reportedly getting closer to a deal on the principles which will define the UN's relationship to Iraq. This policy has been paralyzed by differences among the five permanent UN Security Council members... MORE

As could have been expected, Russia yesterday joined with Yugoslav authorities in criticizing an agreement reached this week by Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders with UN and NATO officials. The accord, concluded only after difficult and at times acrimonious negotiations, sets out the terms under... MORE

While many Russian media and politicians in recent weeks criticized the Western press for the corruption scandals, accusing it of pushing unproven charges, several Russian politicians now seem to accept them as true. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said that he did not think the reports... MORE

Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers was the first witness yesterday in the hearings being conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives' Banking Committee into alleged Russian money laundering through the Bank of New York and high-level Russian corruption in general. In his opening statement, Summers enunciated... MORE

As anticipated (see the Monitor, September 3), Russia seems content to prolong the virtual stalemate in Kyrgyzstan in order to feed the insecurity of Central Asian governments, line them up behind Moscow under the pretense of combating Islamic expansion, and in the process revive at... MORE

Breaking a two-week lull, the Islamic insurgents attacked Kyrgyz government troops from September 17 to 20 in the most intense clashes since the August 22 start of the rebellion. The rebels entered a third district--Kadamazhai--while holding on to their positions in the Batken and Chon-Alai... MORE

On September 17, Tony and Hugh Rodham, brothers of U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton, pulled out--at the insistence of the White House--of the business venture which they had launched last month in Tbilisi and Batumi. The project, known as Argo International, called for investing US$118... MORE

With increasing frequency, Russian officials are charging that Islamic fighters, weapons and funds are being funneled via Georgia and Azerbaijan to terrorist groups in the North Caucasus. Such charges have been aired in recent days by Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Federation Council Chairman Yegor... MORE

Dmitri Savelev, who was ousted last week as head of the state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, has charged that Roman Abramovich, head of the Sibneft oil company and a reputed leading member of the Kremlin inner circle, was behind his dismissal. Savelev said that Abramovich... MORE