A capacity for unleashing targeted repressions is crucial for the survival of authoritarian regimes, and President Vladimir Putin finds it increasingly difficult to demonstrate that he has such a capacity—or that he controls it. Health problems keep him confined to his cozy residence outside Moscow,... MORE

In late June 2012, when Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially declared Tashkent’s decision to suspend its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the country’s National Communications Inspectorate published a report concerning the activities of a Russian-owned company, O’zdunorbita. Established in 1991, this mobile... MORE

Under the presidency of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Belarus’s relationship with Russia has always been one of amity combined with duplicity. In theory, Minsk’s position is that of the weaker partner, dealing with a country that can be quite ruthless in terms of using its economic clout... MORE

Neo-Nazi and extremist nationalist gangs have been operating in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, but two separate attacks in the Moscow region demonstrate the rising power of xenophobic ideas in the country. The first attack occurred at 9:30 p.m. on November 9,... MORE

An expected price increase of gasoline by Mongolian distributors presents new challenges for the coalition government and worries for the public and businesses. As informed by Mongolian fuel importers, Rosneft, the largest Russian oil company, has begun to charge extra for the popular gasoline brand... MORE

On November 8, ethnic Nogai in Dagestan held a rally calling on President Vladimir Putin to consider creating a Nogai autonomous republic within Russia. The new republic would presumably include parts of Dagestan, Chechnya and Stavropolregion where Nogais have resided traditionally. The activists declared: “Only... MORE

The Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom outlined ambitious and costly plans to develop new production and exports hubs in the country’s Far East. Meanwhile, the gas giant has also apparently begun reassessing its ties with Central Asia.On October 29, President Vladimir Putin told Gazprom CEO... MORE

A proposal to drop any reference to nationality in the names of the non-Russian republics of the Russian Federation has deeply divided Tatarstan, the largest and most influential of these republics, almost precisely along ethnic lines. The Tatars are outraged about this attack on their... MORE

It has been 460 years since the first Muslim groups were incorporated into the Russian state (www.prlib.ru/history/pages/item.aspx?itemid=268), yet Moscow has not advanced at all toward better understanding the Islamic world. Starting with the capture of Kazan in 1552 and until the Soviets took power in... MORE