By Oleg Varfolomeyev Ukrainian media are losing the fight for freedom of expression as self-censorship, government intrusion into editorial policy, and intimidation of dissenting media and individual journalists reach a scale the country has not experienced since Gorbachev's perestroika. The case of journalist Georgy Gongadze,... MORE

By Tigran Martirosyan Since the 1994 cease-fire, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has been frozen. International mediators--individually, collectively, and on multiple tracks - have proffered a variety of peace proposals, yet no tangible results have been achieved. The peace process led by the Organization for Security... MORE

By Pavel Baev Last week Vladimir Putin issued orders for a constitutional referendum to be held in Chechnya, paving the way for presidential and parliamentary elections there. However, fighting in the secessionist region continues, and President Putin's efforts to portray a return to normality are... MORE

By David Marples The Czech Republic's refusal to issue a visa to Belarusan President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to attend the NATO summit in Prague has been followed by bans on the president and leading members of his government in almost all European Union countries. The United... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva In October, the Russian government raised the duty on imports of foreign cars more than seven years old, igniting a vigorous debate on the prospects of the Russian automaking industry and the role foreign investors should play in its development. The industry... MORE

By Igor Rotar An interesting paradox has emerged across a number of the former Soviet republics: an unexpected anti-Semitism in people who have often never even met any Jews. And along with this, a distorted sense of history is sometimes apparent, one not uncommon in... MORE

By Emil Danielyan Levon Ter-Petrosian is the man who led Armenia to independence from the Soviet Union and presided over an era of dramatic upheaval. Strong and assertive, he never minced words when expounding his views about his political opponents and the challenges facing his... MORE

By Peter Rutland One month after the hostage crisis, and two years after his appointment as acting president, it is time to address the question of how Vladimir Putin is doing as president. It's still too early to assess the long-run significance of Putin's presidency.... MORE

By Oleg Varfolomeyev Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has reshuffled his government. Accused by Washington of having sold early-warning radars to Iraq, haunted by the tape scandal, snubbed by Western leaders at the NATO summit in Prague, and weakened by opposition attacks at home, Kuchma desperately... MORE

By Terry D. Clark and Kestutis Paulauskas The 1999 decision to sell a controlling share in the Lithuanian oil industry, Mazeikiu Nafta, to U.S.-based Williams International for US$75 million triggered a heated political debate and the collapse of the government. Now, just three years later,... MORE