The Belarusian-Russian potassium (potash) war has undergone several new developments. First, it appears that Uralkalii, a Russian potash producer that, in late July, left the joint Russian-Belarusian trader, Belarusian Potassium Company (BPC) (see EDM August 5, September 4), has insured its “management responsibility” risk. Its... MORE

While opposition candidates are allowed to run for office in Russian cities like Moscow and Yekaterinburg—and, in the case of the mayoral race in the latter, possibly even win—the situation in the North Caucasus remains quite different. Indeed, opposition candidates are completely excluded from running... MORE

Moscow was elated by the success of an unexpected diplomatic initiative this week on Syria that has postponed indefinitely a seemingly inevitable military assault by the United States. The strike would have been aimed at punishing the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for using... MORE

From July 5 to 12 the Chinese and Russian navies participated in a joint exercise called “Joint Sea 2013.” This was the first of two exercises conducted by these two militaries in 2013, the second being a ground forces exercise with a Central Asian element,... MORE

In the telling of China’s official media, the proposed U.S. strike on Syria is a war in search of a pretext, yet another instance in a line of American aggression running from James K. Polk through George W. Bush and into the present administration (People’s... MORE

In a study of the evolution of the Dagestani insurgency, Dagestani social scholar Zaid Abdulagatov explores the changing social landscape among young Dagestanis in relation to Islam and the state. Among the surprising findings of Abdulagatov, who based the study on extensive polling he conducted,... MORE

Armenia’s move into Russia’s economic bloc, coupled with its military reliance on Russia, will conclusively reduce Armenia to the status of Russia’s satellite. Armenia’s snub to the European Union is comparable with the 1947 rejection of the Marshall Plan by the Moscow-dominated governments in Central... MORE

On September 3, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan (speaking in that order from Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence) announced their decision that Armenia would join the Russia-led blocs—the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. This decision at one stroke nullifies the Armenia–European Union Association and... MORE

Cossack units are now patrolling the streets in 12 of the 26 districts of Stavropol krai as well as in Moscow and other Russian regions. Their presence suggests they are simultaneously, as they claim, adjuncts to the local police—street forces the authorities can deploy in... MORE

Moscow’s apparently principled opposition to any possible United States military intervention in Syria, in the aftermath of the chemical weapons use in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, not only deflected the process away from the United Nations, but served as another indicator that... MORE