Latest Articles about Russia
Russia Takes Pause After Incredible Year of Discoveries and Disappointments
Early January is a period of partying and hibernation in Russia. Yet, this pause also provides an opportunity to reflect on the incredible ups and downs of the past year. Designated by the Kremlin as a year of return to stability and growth, 2012 had... MORE
Violence in Ingushetia Continues Upswing
Early December saw multiple victims of the armed confrontation in the North Caucasus, as had the previous weeks of this year. According to independent sources, eight people were killed, one injured and four kidnapped in the region during the week of December 3–9 (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/216978/).On December... MORE
Energy Security in Europe: The Uncertainties of South Stream and the Delays of Nabucco
United States Senator Richard Lugar has urged the Obama administration to break Russia’s energy monopoly in Europe and called on Congress to lift limitations on LNG deliveries to NATO allies in Europe. His critical report, “Energy and Security from the Caspian to Europe,” and the... MORE
What Is Behind Aliyev’s Boycott of the CIS Summit?
On December 5, Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat hosted a summit of heads of state of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. The presidents of Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan did not attend this forum, however. Instead of President Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister Arthur Rasizade represented Baku... MORE
Confrontation Between Dagestani Authorities and Rebels Worsens
Dagestan’s state news agency reported a killing on the Kavkaz federal highway near the village of Agachaul on December 7 under a strange headline. According to RIA Dagestan, unknown assailants fired shots at a car in which Abakar Sulebanov, the former chief of a bread... MORE
Putin Tries to Formulate Political Agenda for His New Six-Year Term
Vladimir Putin delivered the annual presidential address to the joint session of parliament on December 12—his first after reelection to the Kremlin last March. The Kremlin was promoting the coming address as a highly important statement intended to put together a political and economic agenda... MORE
No Plan to Solve Deadlock Over Occupied Georgian Regions
On December 6, speaking at the conference, “Perspectives of Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian relations under the new government,” held in Tbilisi, Georgia’s Minister of Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili stated that the country should expect first concrete results from its engagement with Abkhazian and Ossetian separatists within ten... MORE
North Caucasus Resort Company and Kabardino-Balkarian Leadership in Power Struggle
On November 30, the deputy director of OJSC Northern Caucasus Resorts, Vladimir Yevdokimov, upbraided the Kabardino-Balkarian authorities for obstructing the company’s expansion plans in the republic. Earlier, several members of the republican legislature stated they would veto allocation of land to OJSC Northern Caucasus Resorts.... MORE
Tatarstan’s Interest in UN Membership Angers Moscow
The World Congress of Tatars, an organization created 20 years ago to link Tatarstan with ethnic Tatars living outside the borders of that Middle Volga republic and one that has been closely tied to Kazan’s intellectual and political elite, has called for Tatarstan to seek... MORE
Russia Is Building Diplomatic and Military Tools to Prevent Western Resistance to its Eurasian Union
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent remarks about Russia’s efforts to “re-Sovietize” the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have apparently touched a nerve with the Kremlin. Secretary Clinton warned that the United States is well aware of Russia’s intentions to... MORE