The “Putinian Pax Energetica”—Russia’s strategic use of energy exports and pipeline politics to influence countries in its neighborhood—is faltering, and Italy now appears to be taking countermeasures to deal with it. On December 1, during a state visit to Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally... MORE

On November 26, the city court in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, sentenced a man accused of fighting in the Syrian civil war to four years in prison. This is the first time in Kabardino-Balkaria that a person was convicted and sentenced for taking part in the Syrian... MORE

After the followers of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed their allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) organization (sedmitza.ru, June 30), some of the rebel forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad became polarized. That polarization also affected the Chechen militant groups fighting in Syria, with... MORE

Ongoing tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran have filled the press in both countries for the past five years. However, these bilateral frictions have begun to deescalate since Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Iran on April 16, 2014. And last month (November 12–13), newly inaugurated... MORE

On November 19, the Center for Combating Extremism in Adygea summoned the editor-in-chief of the Natpress news agency, Aslan Shazzo, for a talk. Shazzo recounted what transpired during his talk with the police officials, providing a rare glimpse into the mechanisms Russian officials use to... MORE

Georgian authorities are trying to devise new tactics and a new style of relations with Moscow after the November 24 signing of the Russian-Abkhazian agreement On Alliance and Strategic Partnership (Kavkavsky Uzel, November 24; see EDM, October 29, November 24). However, with Western leaders currently... MORE

In the first ten months of 2014, the industrial output index in Dagestan grew by 139.8 percent—record industrial growth among Russia’s regions. Moreover, in 2013, the republic’s industrial output index grew by an enviable 137.5 percent. These astonishing figures for the economically depressed republic led... MORE

As fighting for the northern Syrian town of Kobane raged in early October, videos of Islamic State militants speaking the Azerbaijani language began appearing on YouTube (RFE/RL, October 14). These video clips were followed by reports about Azerbaijani nationals found among dead Islamic State fighters... MORE

Rarely a week passes in Dagestan without the authorities launching a new special operation against militants. Some weeks, several special operations take place across the republic. In most instances, these law enforcement actions are based upon information received from Russian moles planted in the ranks... MORE

On November 18, Russian and regional analysts in Karachaevo-Cherkessia discussed the striking difference between two neighboring and quite similar republics, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria. While Kabardino-Balkaria has seen the rise of a militant insurgency in recent years, Karachaevo-Cherkessia has managed to remain fairly quiet, even though... MORE