On April 27, Russia’s Federation Council approved a military basing agreement between Tajikistan and Russia (Ozodi, April 30). The agreement signed last October extended the lease on Russia’s bases in Tajikistan, home to the 201st Motorized Rifle Brigade, until 2042 (see EDM October 10, 2012).... MORE

The tragedy in Boston reminded the world about the simmering conflict in the North Caucasus, which has not been resolved because the West largely ignored the region. The outside world pretended Russia’s claims that the North Caucasus had turned almost into a paradise that could... MORE

In four consecutive statements to the international press and local media, as well as to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has pilloried the country’s previous government for allegedly colluding with North Caucasus terrorists (Civil Georgia, April 29; Rustavi-2... MORE

In connection with the tragic events in Boston, some Western journalists have started pursuing sensational angles to the story concerning the purported ties between the alleged elder Boston Marathon bomber, Tamerlan Tsnarnaev, and a Dagestani militant who went by the name of Mahmud Mansur Nidal... MORE

Why did Tamerlan Tsarnaev—one of the alleged April 15 Boston Marathon bombers who died in a shoot-out with police on April 18—not demand an end to the bloodshed in Dagestan, but was instead interested in what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq? The casualties in Dagestan... MORE

Speaking to reporters after last week’s (April 25) lengthy, televised, national question-and-answer (Q & A) session, President Vladimir Putin declared he “was optimistic this tragedy [the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing] will facilitate greater security cooperation, benefiting both America and Russia” (Interfax, April 25). This... MORE

On April 23, following his trip to Minsk, Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu revealed that Russia plans to create its own military airbase on Belarusian soil near the city of Baranovichi, with the first set of Russian fighter jets due to arrive there later... MORE

Emil Pain, the well-known Russian expert on ethnic conflict and former Russian government official, has warned that the conflict in the North Caucasus is escalating. According to the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website, the number of casualties in the North Caucasus dropped to 199 in... MORE

On April 26, 2013, Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili admitted that the previous government perhaps had links with North Caucasian militants and terrorists, and Georgian territory was probably used not only for their transit but also for training purposes. It is difficult to underestimate... MORE

Despite the contraction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—marked by the collective agreement at its summit in Moscow in December 2012 to interpret Tashkent’s membership “suspension” as a withdrawal—the Kremlin is intensifying its efforts to transform the body ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty... MORE