By Aleksandr Tsipko Society awaited Putin's decree on the creation of the State Council with anticipation and interest. It was clear to everyone that after his rout of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament--when he turned it into repository for the second rank... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva President Vladimir Putin has used his first year in office to start, among other things, a reform of the so-called "asymmetrical" federation which has developed in Russia, in which the relationships between the center and the provinces are based on bilateral agreements... MORE

By Elena Dikun The biggest mystery of late autumn was the twisting and turning of Anatoly Chubais. The boss of Unified Energy Systems (UES) suddenly announced to the Moscow establishment that he was leaving for Switzerland on October 9. To do some studying, he said.... MORE

By Marina Konnova Perhaps the only large structure in Russia to have remained virtually unaffected by the political changes associated with perestroika is the Russian army. Or rather, it suffered a number of shocks related to the financial crisis, the total collapse of the standard... MORE

TROUBLE IN CENTRAL ASIA: REPRESSION BY THE AUTHORITIES ONLY SERVES TO CONSOLIDATE THE ISLAMISTS' POSITION By Igor Rotar The incursion by Uzbek Islamists into Surkhan-Darya Oblast in Uzbekistan and the mountainous southern regions of Kyrgyzstan was entirely predictable. Few people in Tashkent and Bishkek doubted... MORE

By Sadji MARKETPLACES HAVE BECOME A FOCAL POINT FOR POTENTIAL REVOLUTIONARIES Until August 1999--that is, before the incursion by guerrillas from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (Russian abbreviation IDU) over the southern borders of Kyrgyzstan--life in the republic moved at a measured and tranquil pace,... MORE

By Nabi Abdullaev According to medical standards, one lethal case of the tubercular meningitis marks the downfall of epidemiological services in a given region. In 1999, ten children with this diagnosis died in the Russian southern republic of North Ossetia. Experts believe the situation is... MORE

By Elena Dikun The Kremlin's spin doctors believe that the tragedy of the Kursk nuclear submarine was a huge blow to Vladimir Putin's image. In off-the-record conversations, presidential administration officials are unanimous in acknowledging that images of the head of state relaxing by the warm... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva A year has passed since last August, when Boris Yeltsin, the ailing president, appointed Vladimir Putin as the prime minister of Russia. Given that Putin, who was then head of Federal Security Service (FSB), the security service, was virtually unknown to general... MORE

By Aleksandr Buzgalin Late summer and early autumn often bring tragic surprises for Russia. In August 1991 the State Committee for the State of Emergency staged a coup which spelled the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. In September 1993 Yeltsin issued a... MORE