By Elena Chinyaeva For the second consecutive year the Russian parliament has postponed its summer vacation to deal with legislation designed to become the basis for structural reforms. The cost of implementing these long-overdue reforms, which affect most spheres of economic and public life, will... MORE

By Aleksandr Tsipko Political life in Russia has become dull and drab again over the last few weeks. News programs are dominated by floods, air crashes and, as always, high-profile murders. As many analysts predicted, Putin's rise to power has brought an end to the... MORE

By Elena Dikun On an official visit to Salzburg in early July, Russia's prime minister drew a line under discussions on reshaping the cabinet. Mikhail Kasyanov announced that there was no point looking out for any structural or personnel changes in the government in the... MORE

By Sergei Oznobishchev The Russian-American summit that took place in June near Ljubljana did not vindicate pessimistic forecasts, though these were not unfounded. Here is a typical summary, made just prior to the summit by a respected news agency, of an analysis of assessments offered... MORE

By Sergei Kolchin World oil prices have a considerable--if not decisive--influence both on the progress of the Russian economy as a whole and on its prospects for development. The government's optimistic forecasts for 2002-03 with regard to foreign debt payments and maintaining progressive economic growth... MORE

By Volodymyr Zviglyanich The endorsement of the new prime minister of Ukraine, 47-year-old Anatoly Kinakh, took place in an almost workaday fashion, without the country's usual scandals, threats to dissolve parliament and other fireworks. The group of 239 (the number of votes cast in favor... MORE

by Farid Rauf oglu Shafiyev The Caspian Sea is the largest closed water body in the world and is surrounded by five states--Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. It has an area of 440,000 square kilometers with an ultra-depth of 1,025 meters, a length of... MORE

By Zaira Magomedova From the Dagestani weekly Novoe Delo:

By Ilya Malyakin In late April one of the most curious products of the reform of the power structures which began with the arrival of President Vladimir Putin reminded us of its existence. I refer to the "Federation" group, which was founded on March 12... MORE

By Aleksandr Tsipko The question: Why does Putin need Fatherland and Unity to unite? Some answers are both obvious and easy enough to cite. Vladimir Putin's characteristic passion for making things ordered and hierarchical can once again be seen here. The Russian president has a... MORE