Armenia has decided to almost triple the number of its troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led multinational mission operating there under NATO’s aegis. The decision is a further indication that the South Caucasus state is continuing to seek closer security ties with... MORE

On May 22, the Russian security services killed one of the leaders of the Kabardino-Balkarian insurgency, Buzhigit Khadzhiev (aka “Musa, the emir of the northwestern front”). Magomed Zalikhanov, dubbed by the law enforcement agencies as an active supporter of the rebels, was also killed in... MORE

The militant opposition has launched its annual campaign to topple the Georgian government. One wing, describing itself as People’s Assembly, is holding daily street rallies in Tbilisi from May 21 onward; while the other wing, Georgian Party, has scheduled a “Day of Rage” for May... MORE

(Part One)Georgian-Israeli relations are in crisis, and the recent decision by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili not to pardon two Israeli businessmen jailed after a Georgian court found them guilty of bribery is not going to improve the situation in the near future. The incident has... MORE

On May 20, the Georgian parliament recognized the mass killings and deportations of Circassians from the North Caucasus in the nineteenth century as “genocide.” The resolution, which passed by a vote of 95 to 0, said that pre-planned “mass killings of the Circassians by Tsarist... MORE

The rebel Kavkaz Center website on May 17 posted the transcript of an interview with Doku Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader who is also “emir” of the Caucasus Emirate. Earlier, on May 11, Kavkaz Center denied rumors in the Russian press that Umarov was receiving... MORE

On May 16, members of the Russian State’s Duma committee on foreign affairs met with a group of Circassian activists from the North Caucasus and the overseas diasporas. The short, one-hour meeting, which was the highest level Russian government meeting with Circassian activists to date,... MORE

On May 9, the leader of the North Caucasian rebels, Doku Umarov, appointed Ibragimkhalil Daudov (aka Emir Salikh) as the new head of the Dagestani insurgency -- or the “Dagestani front,” in Umarov’s words. Daudov replaces Israpil Velidzhanov (aka Emir Khasan), who was killed in... MORE

Armenia’s domestic political landscape looks set to undergo a significant rearrangement that could have profound implications for the next national elections due in 2012 and 2013. President Serzh Sargsyan has all but warded off another challenge to his rule from the country’s largest opposition force... MORE

Kazakhstan is increasingly uncomfortable within the Customs Union with Belarus and Russia due to the constant attempts by the Kremlin to politicize the structure originally intended to boost trade relations and ensure free movement of citizens, goods and capital within the union. Recently, Grigoriy Onishenko... MORE