In January 2016, the Russian media reported that Russia’s gas giant, Gazprom, had discontinued all purchases of natural gas from Turkmenistan and was not planning to resume imports any time soon. This information was later confirmed in a company statement released in mid-March, containing some... MORE

In the past week, two notable events sparked heated debate in the Belarusian and Russian press: the dispensation to Belarus of a Russian $2 billion loan and a visit to Minsk by Michael Carpenter, the United States’ Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine... MORE

Two terrorist attacks recently took place in Dagestan. On March 29, a police officer was killed in an attack on a Ministry of Interior troop convoy in Novy Khushet, a Makhachkala suburb (see EDM, April 1). The next day, March 30, police attempted to stop... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Western nuclear powers have expressed objections regarding several provisions of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty (US State Department, Treaties Data Base Home, CANWFZ Treaty, accessed April 5). The treaty, signed by Central Asia’s five countries, is... MORE

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev participated in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, on March 30–April 2, where he met with United States President Barack Obama (Kazinform, April 2). Kazakhstan has long been recognized as a global example on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. The country... MORE

From the outside, the situation in Ingushetia appears deceptively quiet. But in reality, the republic is not nearly as peaceful as, for example, Adygea, where, despite tensions, no open conflict takes place. Public confrontations are common in Ingushetia, on the other hand. Also, the Islamist... MORE

This week (April 6), without prior warning or any meaningful public debate, President Vladimir Putin announced a massive overhaul of security, public order and law enforcement in Russia by creating a special new internal army. Formed immediately by presidential order (ukaz), the new “National Guard”... MORE

While Russia’s economic woes are usually blamed on a combination of Western sanctions and falling global oil prices, it is worth remembering that some of the country’s economic wounds are self-inflicted. For example, on March 28, Russian agricultural workers planned to stage a protest (stylized... MORE

On March 23–24, the Public Council of the North Caucasian Federal District held a conference in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The primary purpose of the conference was to work out ways to prevent the spread of religion-based radicalism in the North Caucasus. Only officially approved religious leaders... MORE

The escalation of tensions between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces along the line of contact (LOC) saw the outbreak of a five-day exchange of fire, the bloodiest since the 1994 ceasefire agreement. The latest clashes ended with a mutually agreed ceasefire on April 5. According... MORE