The Taliban Threat to Central Asia By Aleksei Malashenko The capture of Afghanistan's capital Kabul by the Taliban in September 1996, and the rapid spread of their influence over three quarters of the country was not expected by many politicians or experts. But in spite... MORE

Is Russia Up to Cooperation in Space? By Stanislav Lunev About a year from now, an event will take place which is truly important from the point of view of Russian-American cooperation, and could have real significance for future generations. In November 1997, Russia's Space... MORE

A Russian Who Fights for the Rule of Law By Yelena Dikun When you arrive in Cheboksary, the capital of Chuvashia, from Moscow, it seems that time has run backwards, and you have been carried back ten years. The central streets are named after Lenin,... MORE

Nationalist Currents in Belarus By Vasily Andreev Nationalism in Belarus, in comparison with the other Slavic republics in the CIS, Russia and Ukraine, is not well-developed. The reasons for this are to be found both in the history of the Belarusan people in this century... MORE

Elections in Blockaded Abkhazia By Maria Eismont The parliamentary elections just held in Abkhazia virtually coincided with the presidential elections in two other unrecognized states formed as the result of interethnic conflicts in the post-perestroika period -- Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia. All of these elections... MORE

The Predations of the Red Directors (Part 3) By Albert Speransky PART 3: TRADE UNIONS: THE HIRED WORKER IN SEARCH OF A DEFENDER (This is the last of three articles) In most countries, trade unions sympathize with left-wing parties and labor movements defend, not the... MORE

Primoriye: The Rise of a Criminal State by David Satter It has long been said that morning in Russia begins in Primoriye,Russia's enclave on the Pacific. In recent years, however, Primoriyehas achieved a different kind of renown in its relation to therest of Russia --... MORE

Tuva: Rejoining the Fold By Maria Eismont Few Russians know of the existence of the Republic of Tuva withintheir enormous state; still fewer would actually be able to locateit on a map. Nevertheless, this republic has three unique distinguishingfeatures: first, its capital, Kyzyl, is seen... MORE

Yakutia: Autonomy and Diamonds By Aleksandr Kasimov The Republic of Sakha is the largest subject of the Russian Federationin terms of land area. It takes up more than 3,100,000 squarekilometers. It has a population of a little over one million. The climate here is the... MORE

Dagestan: The Fundamentalist Threat By Aleksandr Zhilin According to some analysts, in the period following the conclusionof the active phase of the armed confrontation in Chechnya andthe beginning of the activation of the political process in thatNorth Caucasus republic, Islamic extremism is one of the... MORE