*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the issue at stake, mediators are expected to be impartial between two parties to a conflict. Yet the Minsk Group’s co-chairing Western governments—those of... MORE

The November 10 declaration that instituted a ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia also established new east-west and north-south transportation corridors across this corner of the South Caucasus, thus complicating and intensifying the “railway wars” that have gripped the region at various periods since the turn... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has explained his refusal to congratulate the United States’ President-elect Joseph Biden on the fact that the outcome of the November 3, 2020, election has not yet been officially certified and President Donald Trump has not conceded defeat. A full month... MORE

This past month saw a new surge in “leaks” and speculation about the state of President Vladimir Putin’s health along with suggestions in the press that he might, therefore, be planning to resign his post early. Rumors of Putin’s failing constitution became repeated so frequently... MORE

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the output of all sectors of Russian industry, including arms manufacturers (see EDM, April 20, 21, 29, July 28). And despite the fact that state defense orders and the development of nuclear weapons in particular are among Russia’s most... MORE

On November 13, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree (ukaz) “On the Implementation of the Defense Plan of the Russian Federation for 2021–2025” (hereafter, the Plan), which will officially enter into force on January 1 (Pravo.gov.ru, November 13). The Plan—whose history dates back to 1996,... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The second Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan (September–November 2020) has conclusively discredited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, the instrument of multilateral diplomacy mandated 28 years ago to mediate a solution to... MORE

The 20th summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held virtually, on November 10, under the rotating chairmanship of the Russian Federation. The leaders of the regional organization’s member states—Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and... MORE

COVID-19’s “second wave” is pushing back economic recovery all over the globe, giving rise to predictions of massive recorded drops in GDP this year followed by a robust recovery in 2021 and decent growth rates after that. Official economic forecasts in Russia notably mirror those... MORE

One of the few world leaders yet to acknowledge the outcome of the presidential election in the United States is Russian President Vladimir Putin. This procrastination is strikingly uncharacteristic: Putin, for instance, congratulated Maia Sandu the next day after her victory over incumbent and patently... MORE