Force elements, planning, scenario and the conduct of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2010, staged in Kazakhstan from September 9 to 25, were largely similar to previous exercises (EDM, September 28). That is apart from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s contribution, which... MORE

The political crisis in Moscow, continuing after the dismissal of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, dominated the Russian debates last week. Even President Dmitry Medvedev’s state visit to China was overshadowed by these events and may be remembered only due to the expression “message from China,” which... MORE

As the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections near, Moscow’s attempts to influence the elections’ outcome is becoming more obvious. By using both its hard and soft power, the Russian leadership has been supporting favorable candidates, while marginalizing others before the vote on October 10. At least two... MORE

Thirteen months into his tenure, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen travelled to Georgia, the number one troop-contributing country on a per capita basis to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. Rasmussen’s October 1 visit coincided with the death of four Georgians (a colonel and three NCOs) in... MORE

Moscow is exploiting a number of Polish vulnerabilities of both the objective and the subjective variety, all short-term, in the negotiations on a new supply agreement. The proposed draft would perpetuate those vulnerabilities, and cause Polish long-term dependence on Gazprom. For the time being, Poland... MORE

In the last couple of years, Russia has engaged in a rapprochement policy with Poland preceding the death of Poland’s President, Lech Kaczynski and many leading members of the government in a fatal air crash on April 10, outside Smolensk,. However, this policy certainly received... MORE

On September 28 in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Interior Ministry Major-General Viktor Knyazhev announced that a temporary contingent of the ministry’s Internal Troops had been deployed to Dagestan. The general stated the purpose of the deployment was to help the local law enforcement agencies to stabilize the... MORE

Poland consumes some 14.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually (unaffected by the economic recession elsewhere). The country produces some 4.3 bcm per year internally while importing the remainder from Gazprom (Bloomberg, September 18). Most of Gazprom’s deliveries enter Poland through the Yamal-Europe pipeline,... MORE

Moscow has apparently chosen Poland as a ground for testing the European Union’s common energy policy. In ongoing negotiations for a new supply agreement, Gazprom seeks to pressure Poland to circumvent or breach the EU’s legislation on energy market liberalization (Third Energy Package, 2009). Russia... MORE

The Kazakh-Russian joint working group will soon present a proposal for the construction of the “Eurasia” canal linking the Caspian and Azov seas (www.izvestia.ru, September 28). From expanded trade and transit across Eurasia to new energy projects and maritime access for landlocked Central Asia, the... MORE