Belarus' independent press - embattled but not defeated By Paulyuk Bykowski In November 1997, the oldest newspaper of the Belarusian opposition, Svaboda (Freedom), was closed down on the orders of the country's Supreme Economic Court. The Court declared that two of Svaboda's articles threatened "to... MORE

Turkmenistan's oil and gas complex By Sergei Kolchin EDITOR'S NOTE: Turkmenistan made headlines around the world when, at the end of December 1997, President Saparmurat Niyazov and Iran's new president, Mohammad Khatami, officially opened the first natural gas pipeline linking Iran, via Turkmenistan, to the... MORE

The Fortnight in Review Russia: Budget Debate and Yeltsin's Health Top the News The fortnight began on December 5 with an unprecedented visit by President Boris Yeltsin to the State Duma, where he appealed to Russia's recalcitrant parliamentarians to approve the 1998 federal budget in... MORE

Russia's new identity document creates an uproar in Tatarstan By Gulnara Khasanova Few people in Tatarstan reacted with equanimity to news of the introduction of Russia's new passport (the identity document carried by all Russian citizens). Participants in the heated debate say that this is... MORE

Russia remains in the grip of a "social earthquake," according to a leading public opinion specialist By Boris Grushin Of all the questions discussed in Russia today, perhaps the most disturbing is: Where is the country going? It seems to me that we are still... MORE

A leader of Kazakhstan's opposition says the opposition has much to gain, even if it loses the next presidential election By Petr Svoik Thanks to Caspian Sea oil and the country's location between Russia, China and the Islamic world, Kazakhstan is fated to face close... MORE

The Fortnight in Review The political future of Russian first deputy premier Anatoly Chubais remained a subject of media speculation over the past fortnight, but despite that ongoing saga and the enactment of a breakthrough law on land reform in Saratov Oblast, the Kremlin's eyes... MORE

Grozny is lobbying for a Caucasus Common Market, hoping the profit motive will force the world community to recognize Chechnya's independence By Igor Rotar In the middle of October, a foreign delegation visited Grozny. On October 13, Lord McAlpine, a member of the British House... MORE

The re-legalization of Armenia's Dashnak Party on the cards By Emil Danielyan The Armenian authorities are poised to reinstate one of the country's oldest political parties, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) or Dashnaktsutiun. The party was suspended three years ago by President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who... MORE

The upcoming elections to the Moscow city Duma: Why they matter and how they differ from previous elections By Vladimir Mironov Russia is moving more and more confidently along the democratic path of development. The procedures prescribed in the Constitution and the other relevant laws... MORE