Moscow still fails to properly calibrate the relationship between threat assessment and modeling a military to match, with complementary defense industry support. Recent statements from the top brass suggest that a reassessment of Russia’s perceived threat environment is well underway, while the idea of promoting... MORE

On June 27, the Circassian organization Adyge Khase held a conference in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. Participants accused the republic’s authorities of neglecting Circassian villages and putting pressure on Circassian businesses, calling for an extraordinary conference of the Circassian people. Circassians in Karachaevo-Cherkessia accuse the republican authorities of... MORE

On June 22, the World Bank approved $12 million in additional financing for Tajikistan for a project creating temporary employment in rural districts (clearing irrigation and drainage canals). This financing is a specific effort to assist the country in tackling the impact of falling remittances... MORE

Ukraine has taken one step back from looming default as an agreement was reached to start direct talks with Kyiv’s biggest private creditors. This is despite a setback with Russia, which has refused to discuss the restructuring of a loan issued in 2013 as a... MORE

On June 26, one day after the Russian security services killed Magomed-Ali Aliev and his wife Leila in Nazran, Ingushetia (Topwar.ru, June 25; see EDM, July 1), law enforcement agencies in the Chechen capital Grozny killed two suspected terrorists. According to the Chechen government forces,... MORE

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office (Genprocuratura) announced it was investigating the legality of the independence of the Baltic States—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—which were recognized by the State Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in September 1991. In late June, the Genprocuratura announced... MORE

After months of relative quiet, there have been unexpected reports in recent weeks of battles with militants in Ingushetia, Russia’s smallest republic. Among other reported incidents, police officers were apparently wounded during a special operation in the republic’s foothills in May (Echo.msk.ru, May 23), and... MORE

Moldova would not be the country of procedural democracy it is, were it not to suffer from the syndrome of permanent elections, dictated by government crises and calendar dates in combination. Moldova held country-wide local elections in two rounds, June 14 and June 28, under... MORE

Given the centrality of energy to the Russian economy and the withering impact of continuing low energy prices and sanctions, Russia has ample reason to promote energy deals with anyone it can find. The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has historically served as a... MORE

In the wake of terrorist attacks by the Islamic State (IS) across the Middle East and Europe, Russian diplomats and the Kremlin-controlled media have been working overtime to suggest that the West will not be able to contain IS unless it secures Moscow’s cooperation. And... MORE