From the outset of his political project (October 2011) to date, Georgian Dream movement’s billionaire leader Bidzina Ivanishvili has expressed total confidence in winning the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Before long, Ivanishvili and his allies were implying that the government could only win through... MORE

On July 3, the prime minister of Adygea, Murat Kumpilov, received a member of the Jordanian parliament, Munir Sobrok. The visitor from Jordan reportedly came to Adygea to explore the situation in the republic and make inquiries as to whether the Adygean authorities were prepared... MORE

December 24, 2012 will mark the end of the contract between Azerbaijan and Russia for the lease of the Gabala radar station (Daryal-type radar station), built by the Soviet Union in 1984 to monitor missile launches at distances as far as 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles)... MORE

As of July 11, 20 people had already been killed or wounded in insurgency-related violence in Dagestan since the beginning of the month. The total number of casualties in the whole of the North Caucasus in the same period was 26 (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/209480/). Out of the... MORE

The upcoming parliamentary elections pose a unique set of challenges to Georgia’s evolving democracy, the country’s stability and potentially to Georgian statehood itself. The challenges include: vote purchase leading to full or partial state capture, Russian military pressure timed to the voting, danger of post-election... MORE

As the Chechen Republic has been gradually rebuilt following the destruction of two wars, the Islamization of the region has become increasingly evident. While the federal center is not involved in Islamizing Chechnya, it has taken no steps to prevent it. The primary reason for... MORE

On July 6, floods swept through the western parts of Krasnodar region on Russia’s Black Sea coast, killing at least 160 people and leaving tens of thousands more without homes. Most of those killed were in the town of Krymsk, which has a population of... MORE

The Kremlin’s decision to stop drafting young non-Russian men from the republics of the North Caucasus threatens Moscow’s control both of that region and of the Russian Federation as a whole (see EDM June 27; RIA Novosti, June 25). This move simultaneously highlights and exacerbates... MORE

In June 2012, Ingushetia was the third deadliest republic in the North Caucasus, behind only Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. Six people died in attacks in the republic and 17 were injured, while 11 were killed and 12 wounded in Kabardino-Balkaria, and 28 were killed and ten... MORE

The Russian military does not want to deal with military conscripts from the North Caucasus region and has placed them outside the constitution of the Russian Federation. By applying these exclusionary practices to the North Caucasians, the Russian government is taking yet another step toward... MORE