By Marko Mihkelson Later this week the NATO summit in Prague will see seven new countries invited to join the alliance, among them three Baltic states formerly part of the Soviet Union. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are opting, for the first time in their history... MORE

By Zaal Anjaparidze Last month's dramatic hostage taking in Moscow will probably lead to a renewal of Russian offensives in the Caucasus, and the Pankisi valley in northern Georgia is a likely target for their retributions. Some Russian officials and media outlets allege that the... MORE

By Oleg Varfolomeyev On November 16 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma dismissed his prime minister, Anatoly Kinakh, replacing him with Donetsk Governor Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich's nomination now goes to the fractious parliament: If approved, he will be the seventh premier in eight years. Yanukovich is a... MORE

By Fariz Ismailzade The presidential election due to be held in Azerbaijan in 2003 will be an important test for the nation's nascent democracy. Incumbent President Haidar Aliev will be 80 years old next spring, his health has been deteriorating in recent years, yet there... MORE

By Dale R. Herspring The hostage crisis in the Nord Ost Theater was the sternest challenge yet for President Vladimir Putin. Had he mishandled it, he might have faced the end of his presidency. Judging by the reactions of ordinary Russians in the week afterwards,... MORE

By Mikhail Kochkin The radical changes in Russia's foreign policy that followed the events of September 11 last year are often interpreted as the personal achievement of Vladimir Putin, who had challenged Russian public opinion. His line on supporting the United States in the fight... MORE

By Stephen Blank A specter is haunting the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); the specter of popular unrest. In the last year we have seen political crisis strike country after country in the region: -- cabinet struggles in Kazakhstan, -- the government's electoral defeat in... MORE

By Taras Kuzio Since he was elected president of Russia in March 2000, Vladimir Putin has progressively downgraded relations with Belarus while upgrading them with Ukraine. Five factors have led to this expanding strategic Moscow-Kyiv partnership. First, Belarusan President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is no longer useful... MORE

By Pavel Baev The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), created hastily in late 1991 as the Soviet Union was falling apart, is such an obvious failure as an integration project and pathetic non-starter as an international organization that its very existence may constitute breaking news.... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva In September, the Russian electoral system was dealt a major blow: The results of two elections, for the posts of Krasnoyarsk governor and Nizhny Novgorod mayor, were placed in doubt because they appeared to have been rigged. The system appears to be... MORE