By Emil Danielyan For most foreign politicians and observers, it is primarily the Armenian side which should have a vital interest in making serious concessions to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The military victories notwithstanding, the Armenians have suffered a dramatic decline in living standards... MORE

By Valery Virkunen Yevgeny Primakov's government marked its arrival with a call to restrict the circulation of foreign currency in Russia. This call was supported by many members of the opposition and by a number of regional leaders. Sverdlovsk Oblast Governor Eduard Rossel, for example,... MORE

By Igor Rotar On November 4 a rebellion broke out in Northern Tajikistan, with the rebels, led by Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdiev, taking control of almost the entire Leninabad Oblast. Khudoiberdiev demanded from Dushanbe that no less than 40 percent of jobs throughout the country's power... MORE

The main impression left by the last two weeks in Russian politics is of a growing power vacuum. This impression received graphic confirmation with the assassination of veteran reformer Galina Starovoitova in St. Petersburg on November 20. Previous high-profile contract killings, including the 1994 murder... MORE

By Elena Dikun In early November the Russian Constitutional Court effectively forbade Boris Yeltsin from running in the elections in 2000, ruling that the term he is currently serving is his second, not his first. The constitution does not allow a president to serve for... MORE

By Igor Rotar In August, on board aircraft from the Russian ministry for emergency situations, twenty-three Adygei families (eighty-six people) were brought to Adygea from the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. In Kosovo itself only seven Adygei families remain. The chief organizers of this mission were... MORE

By Sadyrbek Jighitekov Beginning in May of this year, the republic of Kyrgyzstan was beset by a series of disasters. In the Suzak region of Osh Oblast, a dam burst, with the resulting damage totaling 157 million som (US$8 million). A goods truck carrying cyanide... MORE

By Brian Whitmore Several leading lawmakers running for re-election to St. Petersburg's local legislature got an unpleasant surprise when the list of official candidates was announced last month. In addition to well-financed opponents, several legislators discovered they would also be facing challengers with names identical... MORE

By Andrei Piontkovsky More than a year has passed since the "Framework Act on relations between NATO and Russia" was signed in Paris. The path to this agreement was not an easy one. In the last few years, Russia's political class has undergone a painful... MORE

Russia's budget battles continued over the last two weeks, but the high-stakes contest over economic policy was in some regards overshadowed by an unseemly display of anti-Semitism in Russian public life. That unedifying development did little for Russia's regions, some of which continued to struggle... MORE