The North Caucasus is the only part of Russia where the authorities engage in systematic abductions – a practice that has existed since the first war in Chechnya in the mid-1990s. According to the Center for Civil Assistance to the Search for Missing Persons in... MORE

On March 4, Vladimir Putin won a crushing electoral victory and ensured a third six-year term in the Kremlin as Russia’s president. The Central Election Commission (CEC) published the final official results: Putin received 63.6 percent of the popular vote. The Communist leader, Gennadiy Zyuganov,... MORE

As negotiations continue over the extension of Russia’s use of a military base in Tajikistan, the Central Asian country’s envoy to Russia suggests that his government wants Moscow to pay rent for operating the facility. Speaking to journalists on February 28, Abdulmajid Dostiev acknowledged that... MORE

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won the March 4 presidential elections in Russia, as most observers had been expecting. Despite his landslide victory with nearly 64 percent of vote, many analysts agree that Putin will no longer be able to treat the presidency as a sinecure... MORE

Russian oil companies Gunvor, Rosneft, and Lukoil are spearheading what looks like an acquisition spree of refining capacities in Western Europe. Some West-European authorities accept without qualms and even welcome such Russian takeovers, apparently viewing them as crisis-relief measures for stricken European refineries and workforces... MORE

In the aftermath of the long-anticipated presidential election victory secured by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on March 4, Russian media coverage of issues related to the future of the Armed Forces emphasize a bright future for the country’s conventional military power. However, as the country... MORE

On March 3, Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) preliminarily confirmed the killing of another leader of Ingushetia’s militants, Adam Tsyzdoev. Tsyzdoev and another rebel were killed by the security services in the northern Ingushetian town of Malgobek. The militants reportedly fired shots at police who tried... MORE

There is hardly much space for doubt about the outcome of the presidential elections in Russia: Every administrative resource was mobilized and every propaganda tool was deployed to ensure the victory of the “irreplaceable” Vladimir Putin. There is, however, a lot of doubt about the... MORE

Moscow’s Reappraisal of Prospects for Europe and the ResetTwo recent articles by Sergei Karaganov of the Council on Defense and Foreign Policy offer another perspective on the Russian veto of the UN Security Council resolution on Syria and on Sino-Russian cooperation. In December, he wrote... MORE

It is well-known that the aggressive foreign policy of Iran’s clerical regime makes Central Asian governments uneasy. Most obviously, Iran and its Caspian neighbors have a longstanding dispute over Tehran’s expansive claims to offshore energy resources. In addition, the Central Asian states have repeatedly rejected... MORE