Russia's intelligence failure in Chechnya has deep roots by Martin Ebon "The grandiose failure [in Chechnya] was the natural resultof the systematic ruining of our special services that began inAugust 1991. Prior to that time, the KGB of the USSR was an enormous,powerful special service.... MORE

Turkmenistan seeks to exploit both gas and geography by David Nissman After becoming independent in 1991, Turkmenistan quickly soughtto take its place in the world as a country like any other. Morethan any of the other post-Soviet successor states in CentralAsia, Turkmenistan had both the... MORE

Shakeup of Moscow's power ministers helps Yeltsin consolidate power by Victor Yasmann Under the combined pressure of the media, public opinion andparliament, Boris Yeltsin dismissed three of his security chiefs,but retained his most loyal allies such as defense minister PavelGrachev and Security Council secretary Oleg... MORE

Kozyrev calls for tighter, Russian-dominated CIS by Vladimir Socor On July 6, Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev set out Moscow'slatest policy line on the post-Soviet space in two separate butsimilar speeches to the Russian parliament´s Council of theFederation, and to a conference of the Russian... MORE

Tajik war appears set to explode and to force Moscow to make some painful choices Three events are likely to resonate through next week--the talksand likely fighting in Chechnya, non-Russian reaction to Russianforeign minister Andrei Kozyrev's new vision of the Commonwealthof Independent States, and a... MORE

Yeltsin gains from latest political crisis in Moscow, but nearly torpedoes Chechen talks Three events dominated the week just past: the resolution ofat least the first stage of the current Russian government crisisas Yeltsin fired three of his power ministers and the Duma failedto pass... MORE

Georgia: Key Officials GEORGIA--KEY OFFICIALS Abashidze, Aslan.........................................................Chairman,Adzhar parliament Ardzinba, Vladislav......................................................Presidentof Abkhazia Babilasvili, Dzhamlet....................................................ProsecutorGeneral Chanturia, Giorgi..........................................................Chairman,Georgian National Democratic Party Chikvaidze, Aleksandr...................................................ForeignMinister Georgadze, Igor.............................................................SecurityMinister Gudzhadbidze, Gen. Nodar.............................................Commander,Military HQ Gumberidze, Col. Otar....................................................Commander,Border Guards Ioseliani, Dzhaba.............................................................DeputyChairman, State Council Commander, Mkhedrioni militia Kavsadze, Aleksandr........................................................DeputyPrime Minister Kitovani, Tengiz...............................................................Commander,Georgian army Kobalia, Loti....................................................................Leaderof... MORE

Belarusian vote continues to echo in Moscow, Kiev by Volodymyr Zviglyanich The Belarusian vote in favor of closer ties to Russiaand the Belarusian failure to elect a new parliament have ledboth Moscow and Kiev to revise their respective foreign policies. Moscow has viewed the results... MORE

Moscow pushes hard for basing rights in Moldova by Vladimir Socor With very little international notice and at no political costto itself thus far, Moscow continues to demand on an open-endedpresence of its troops in Moldova. The country's strategic locationat the intersection of Central and... MORE

Yeltsin decree shows who really planned Chechnya operation by Victor Yasmann There are two traditional Russian questions: "What is tobe done?" and "Who is to blame?" In recent years,they have been combined, and people ask "What is to be donewith those who are guilty?" During... MORE