The September national survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS), the most trusted Belarusian polling firm, headquartered in Lithuania, shows that both the electoral rating of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and public trust vested in him have gone up. Whereas in June,... MORE

Russia has now fallen to 51st place among the countries of the world in terms of the effectiveness of its medical system, behind Azerbaijan and Belarus. This decline reflects Vladimir Putin’s budgetary priorities, and it has boosted Russia’s mortality rate this year to 13.3 deaths... MORE

In late September, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry, promised that the ongoing military modernization will contain a “nuclear surprise” for the country’s potential adversaries. It seems that in large measure this “surprise” relates to a major readjustment to the... MORE

As civil war rages in Syria, Circassians there are trying to escape to other countries, but few of them have been able to return to their historical homeland in the North Caucasus. A handful of the Circassians ended up in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, where Circassians are the... MORE

The trickle of sad and sour economic news continues to exacerbate Russia’s stagnant economic outlook, but the Kremlin authorities remain resolutely indifferent to these negative trends. They presume that the arrival of a “technical” recession does not constitute a political challenge because the “below-middle” classes... MORE

Reiterating statements he made this past summer, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka instructed his government, on September 23, to create a highly mobile and advanced military equipped with modern, domestically-produced arms and vehicles. The seriousness with which Belarus’s head of state considers this task was unambiguous;... MORE

Tashkent’s recent diplomatic efforts to serve and actively pursue its vital national interests may best be described by the mantra “a strategy is always square, but tactics are always round.” The attendance of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, at the most recent summit of... MORE

Practically every month, Moscow boastfully announces it has killed a leader of one of the territorial branches of the Islamic underground armed resistance. However, the statistics regularly provided by Russian authorities concerning the insurgency raise doubts about the authenticity of these claims. Indeed, the number... MORE

Russian ties with Japan have clearly suffered serious damage due to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. Apparently, there will not be a visit by Russian President Putin to Japan anytime soon, despite previous wishes for such a trip by both sides (Asahi Shimbun AJW, September 24).... MORE

Addressing an international investment forum in Moscow yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted an unusually restrained tone toward Ukraine. In effect, Putin seems to suggest a framework for political dialogue toward stabilizing Russia-Ukraine relations (kremlin.ru, Interfax, October 2). Putin’s salient propositions are: 1) “It is... MORE