No one, not even former Kazakhstani president Nursultan Nazarbayev, expected the transition from his 30 years in power to be easy. Indeed, despite giving up the presidency, the longtime Kazakhstani leader nonetheless remains the dominant power in his country to ensure that the worst does... MORE

On May 3, United States President Donald Trump phoned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and had “a long and very good conversation” discussing “trade, Venezuela, Ukraine, North Korea, Nuclear Arms Control and even the ‘Russian Hoax’ [sic],” according to Trump. The two leaders did not talk... MORE

On May 4, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release to mark the 25th anniversary of the country’s partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), calling it “one of the important directions” of the Azerbaijan’s “foreign and security policy” (Mfa.gov.az, May... MORE

On May 9, Belarus held its annual Victory Day commemoration, marking the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945. As part of the ceremonies, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka laid a wreath at the Victory Monument, at the eponymous square in Minsk. In his speech,... MORE

On May 5, an Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) crash-landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, killing 40 passengers and one crewmember (TASS, May 6). Russian President Vladimir Putin held a moment of silence at the start of the May 8 Federal Council meeting, thus breaking his... MORE

Among students of Russia, it has long been a commonplace belief that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), because of its caesaro-papist traditions, is a handmaiden of the Russian state in all its forms, working closely with and supporting Russian government policies. More recently, many have... MORE

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced, on April 19, that the Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command (NF JSC), headquartered in Severomorsk, will receive the status of a separate military-administrative unit by December (see EDM, April 24). The move will de facto turn the entity... MORE

April 2019 saw a flurry of activity around the Baltic Pipe infrastructure project set to connect Poland and Denmark. The pipeline, which will carry around 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from the North Sea to Poland and further to the Baltic States, is... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here.   Ukraine’s outgoing president, Petro Poroshenko, and the governing coalition (whose mandate is also about to expire) have bequeathed the foundation and building blocks of Ukrainian resilience against Russia’s adversity. President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky and the soon-to-be-elected next parliament... MORE

Russia tries to maintain a finger in every conflict in the Middle East, and President Vladimir Putin seeks to cultivate connections with various parties in multiple quarrels. Presently, however, the Kremlin’s access is being curtailed: Moscow, for instance, cannot find an entry point into the... MORE