RUSSIA GETS A NEW PRIME MINISTER President Boris Yeltsin's dismissal of Yevgeny Primakov on May 12 was hardly a bolt out of the blue. For weeks--even months--Russia's media had been predicting that the former spymaster would be removed as cabinet head. Some Kremlin sources had... MORE

By Volodymyr Zviglyanich INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF INTERNAL POLICY Political life in Ukraine is entering a decisive phase. The presidential elections on October 31 will provide an answer to the question of which form Ukraine will take as it enters the 21st century: That of a... MORE

The assessments and evaluations of Russians cited above were obtained during a period of relative financial stability and of hope that economic growth would begin. After August 17, 1998 it was not only the experts who realized that these hopes were merely based on concealment... MORE

By Mikhail Zherebyatev One novel aspect of the 1999 electoral season in Russia is the absence of a "power" party or parties formed especially for the State Duma elections and approved by the head of state (such as those which described themselves thus at the... MORE

By Vladimir Mironov Since the start of the year, Russia's domestic political climate has been heating up. Paradoxically, the first symptom of political tension came with Yevgeny Primakov's January proposal to conclude a "nonaggression pact" to maintain the status quo among the Kremlin, the White... MORE

FROM GUAM TO GUUAM: A GROWING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN THE CIS "GUAM," the four-country group of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, has welcomed a fifth member country--Uzbekistan--thereby extending into Asia. The enlargement should reinforce the capacity of this group--now "GUUAM"--to promote the member countries' common... MORE

By Igor Rotar (This paper was given by the author at the international conference of Caucasus specialists in Tbilisi, organized by the President of Georgia's State Bureau for CIS Studies, with the financial support of IREX.) The North Caucasus is one of the world's most... MORE

By Ilya Malyakin and Marina Konnova Just as the former Soviet Union had no knowledge of de-monopolized political life, it had no experience of social activity free of state control. The voluntary organizations which did exist existed only as adjuncts to the state and party... MORE

By Elena Dikun Kremlin officials awaited President Boris Yeltsin's annual message to both houses of the Federal Assembly on March 30 with some trepidation. First, it was not clear how Yeltsin would cope with a public appearance, having only recently been he might put aside... MORE

By Tatyana Matsuk "Every strike on Yugoslavia is a blow to the prospects of maintaining democracy in Russia," said former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar. Despite my staunch opposition to Gaidar, on this occasion, sadly, I agree with him. The world is on the brink... MORE