President Vladimir Putin’s decision to militarily intervene in Syria came after long and careful preparations to mitigate the risks of conflict escalation. However, two events complicated Russia’s involvement and demanded a revision of this overall strategy: the Islamic State (IS) attacks in Paris as well... MORE

On November 29, truck drivers across Russia continued gathering forces for a large protest in Moscow, while the authorities put various obstacles in their way (Ekho Moskvy, November 29). The previous day, November 28, the road police in Kalmykia stopped Dagestani truck drivers who were... MORE

President Vladimir Putin is visiting Paris this week for the COP21 climate forum, but environmental matters will not be high on his personal agenda. Indeed, probably the only proposal Russia is willing to consider would be to replace coal with natural gas as the main... MORE

This past week (November 15–16), in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, Turkey hosted the G20 summit for the first time. Though normally devoted to high-level political discussions of global economic issues, the recent string of terrorist attacks in Paris (November 13) and elsewhere induced... MORE

The recent elections for the sheikh and imam of a mosque located on Vengerskikh Boitsov Street (Hungarian Fighters Street), in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala, were quite characteristic of the situation throughout the republic. According to official rules, a mosque imam is appointed by the... MORE

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be visiting Japan this year or anytime soon (see EDM, October 9) and currently no agenda even exists for any such visit, Tokyo appears so desperate for reconciliation with Moscow that it has agreed to continue discussing the... MORE

Experts have paid insufficient attention to news of an assassination attempt against Ramzan Kadyrov at the beginning of November 2015. The reported attempt on the Chechen ruler’s life illuminates what the current situation in Chechnya is like. On November 1, Russian media made the surprise... MORE

In an apparent sudden about-face, the Kremlin has accused the Islamic State (IS) of planting a bomb onboard Russian Metrojet Flight 9268, which disintegrated in midair after takeoff from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on October 31, killing all 224 people on board,... MORE

Over the past year, Mongolia has worked to institutionalize its foreign policy concept of “trilateralism,” according to which the landlocked Northeast Asian republic is attempting to insert itself into Russia and China’s growing relationship based on energy, transportation and regional development cooperation. Mongolia’s key successes... MORE

The first term of the governor of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Rashid Temrezov, will end in 2016, and experts say the republic’s clans have been gearing up to forestall his reappointment by the Kremlin. While Temrezov has been quite successful in maintaining good relations with the federal authorities... MORE