By Elena Chinyaeva Russian presidents, like their American counterparts, have a constitutional obligation to address lawmakers each year. This address, which in Russia is delivered to the Federal Assembly, has now become a fixture of the Russian political calendar. There have been ten presidential addresses... MORE

by Rafis Abazov In the fall of 2002 Kyrgyzstan's Askar Akaev became the first Central Asian president to officially announce his intention to step down from the presidency after completing his constitutionally granted second term, which in his case ends in 2005. If he does... MORE

By Taras Kuzio In the post-Soviet states, corruption is central to the manner in which the authorities control the political environment and extract loyalty from the ruling oligarchic class that has been permitted, by the executive branch, to grow and enrich itself. This is vividly... MORE

By Stefan Hedlund At long last, the Russian economy appears to have emerged out of the red. We are presently looking at a fifth straight year of positive growth in GDP, at a fourth of surplus in the federal budget, and at a third of... MORE

By Peter Rutland On 29-30 April a group of U.S. government officials and scholars met in Seattle to discuss U.S. policy toward the Caspian Basin. The conference was cosponsored by the National Bureau of Asian Research and the U.S. Army War College. [1] Perhaps most... MORE

By Zaal Anjaparidze The parliamentary elections in Georgia, which are scheduled for November 2, are turning into a struggle between the forces of the past, grouped around President Eduard Shevardnadze, and a newborn opposition that adheres to Western values. The fact that the leaders of... MORE

By Pavlo Kutuev Ukrainian politics has recently been highlighted by the unfolding of several trends that are of critical importance to the future of the country's major political players. Despite being aware of Leonid Kuchma's constitutional reform intentions--the president has been entertaining these ideas for... MORE

By Sergei Kolchin Many oil industry observers believe that Iraq will be the center of international and especially U.S. attention over the next few years. But BP's stunning announcement in March that it was willing to spend up to US$6.75 billion to acquire the Tyumen... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva I was talking to a friend on the phone with the TV on when the news was announced that Sergei Yushenkov had been killed. In disbelief I told her the news, and heard the reply: "And who is Yushenkov?" Sergei Yushenkov was,... MORE

by Nikolai Petrov Russia is a country that encompasses an enormous range of socio-political and ethnic-confessional conditions. Foreign political developments, therefore, can have various--and sometimes opposing--effects on different parts of the country. Throughout Russia, anti-war and anti-American sentiments were expressed, with varying degrees of intensity,... MORE