One low-profile remonstration in the last week of September emphasized the pronounced tendency to self-isolation in Russian foreign policy in the late autumnal cycle of Putin’s regime. Sergei Naryshkin, the chairman of the State Duma, opted not to attend the session of the Parliamentary Assembly... MORE

Ever since Chechnya was conquered in May 1859, Russia has tried out various ways to weaken the role of Islam there. It was Islam that became the banner of the North Caucasians struggle during the colonization of the region by Russia in the second half... MORE

At a recent nonproliferation conference Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that Moscow is ready to continue reducing strategic offensive weapons on the condition that other countries preserve strategic stability and observe Russia’s indefinable mantra of equal security for all. Russia also has non-negotiable... MORE

The Chechen authorities recently started to report regularly on hunting down militants in the foothills and mountains of the republic (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/212177/). Results of manhunts normally become known only if rebels are killed, but this happens much less frequently now than in 2011. Judging by open... MORE

The Chechen authorities recently started to report regularly on hunting down militants in the foothills and mountains of the republic (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/212177/). Results of manhunts normally become known only if rebels are killed, but this happens much less frequently now than in 2011. Judging by open... MORE

In an interview published on September 26 in the official government Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of armaments Dmitry Rogozin, highly praised President Vladimir Putin’s plans to “reindustrialize Russia” by spending hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild its defense industry. During his... MORE

Russian and Kazakhstani leaders have reiterated plans to further develop bilateral commerce, relying on the free trade arrangements of their Customs Union. Two-way trade, however, has appeared to advance slower than previously expected. Attended by presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin, the Inter-Regional Cooperation Forum,... MORE

Clashes between ethnic Russians and non-ethnic Russian Dagestanis erupted in the village of Remontnoe in the southern Russian region of Rostov on September 13. Eight people reportedly were hospitalized as a result of the violence. The authorities said they prevented a much larger collision between... MORE

Kavkaz 2012 (Caucasus 2012), the strategic command-staff military exercise staged in Russia’s Southern Military District (MD) from September 17 to September 23, tested key features of the reform of the Russian Armed Forces. In terms of the scenario and overall aims of the exercise, it... MORE

On September 20, the Russian security services claimed a landmark achievement in fighting insurgents in Kabardino-Balkaria, saying that they had carried out “one of the most successful special operations in the republic in the past several years.” Quoting sources in the security services, the newspaper... MORE