At the G20 summit last Saturday (November 21), virtually hosted by Saudi Arabia, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to play the role of a wise statesman charting a course of cautious moderation in tumultuous times of economic spasms and pandemic. His advertising of the Russian... MORE

On October 27, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) canceled the requirement for government officials and supreme judges to file electronic declarations of all their assets, including salaries, property and other sources of income. This was one of the key reforms implemented since the 2013/2014... MORE

On October 26, President Vladimir Putin formally adopted the “Strategy for the Development of the Russian Arctic Zone and Provision of National Security Through 2035,” which aims to implement a “region-specific approach” for dealing with problems facing the country’s vast, strategically important, yet increasingly problematic... MORE

Global warming is progressively opening up not only the Arctic but the Antarctic, and the geopolitical contests between Russia and other countries are now intensifying in the South as well as the North, with numerous governments increasingly seeking to exploit the resources heretofore locked up... MORE

President Vladimir Putin issued a decree authorizing Russia’s Ministry of Defense to sign an agreement with Sudan to create a permanent Russian military base, or “naval supply station” (punkt materialno-tekhnicheskogo snabzenya). The location of the new naval facility will be close to the main Sudanese... MORE

Moldova’s recent presidential election (first round held on November 1, second round on November 15) has been widely stereotyped by international media as a geopolitical contest between a democratic West and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But in fact, that presumption has been disproved by all players,... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a new nuclear-strike-proof command-and-control (C2) center for the country’s nuclear forces. On November 13, he signed a decree (ukaz) on the implementation of the national defense plan for 2021–2025 (Pravo.gov.ru, November 13). Reportedly, a key element... MORE

On the night of November 9–10, following 45 days of fierce fighting, the second Karabakh war ended with the signing of a five-point declaration between Azerbaijan and Armenia, under mediation from Russia (Kommersant, November 10). Azerbaijan recaptured five districts in Karabakh, as well as the... MORE

Whenever a major development occurs in one area of the post-Soviet space, many Moscow officials and analysts often hurry to ask whether it will be repeated in another. And when Moscow becomes involved, some in the Russian capital are inclined to think that the Kremlin... MORE

The economic crisis in the Russian Federation has resulted in the central government further tightening its control over the republics of the North Caucasus. Ingushetia now faces a loss of its financial autonomy. Similarly, the property rights for a key tourist enterprise in Kabardino-Balkaria have... MORE