In the oversimplifying view of some Western commentators, the ongoing unrest in the “Muslim world” could or should not fail to grip Azerbaijan. On April 2 the veteran protest parties, Musavat and Popular Front, attempted to hold an unauthorized rally in Fountain Square, downtown Baku’s... MORE

Following reports that Russian air and ground forces had killed 17 militants in an operation targeting a rebel base near the village of Upper Alkun in Ingushetia, Moscow waited with trepidation for the official identification of the body of Doku Umarov, the leader of the... MORE

On March 28, the Russian state statistical service released the preliminary results of the 2010 census. The country’s net population loss comprised 2.2 million people or 1.6 percent of the general population, which declined from 145.1 million in 2002 to 142.9 million in 2010. The... MORE

In an attempt to copy the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, the Azerbaijani opposition organized a street demonstration in Baku on April 2. Despite the government prohibition of this event and the offer by the Mayor’s office to hold the rally in another location, the organizers... MORE

On April 1, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov, and Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, jointly announced that the resignation of the republic’s government was imminent, probably due on April 4. Kanokov held his government responsible for Kabardino-Balkaria’s instability over the previous... MORE

The Russian security services is now asserting that the massive terrorist attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on January 24, in which 37 people were killed and 120 more injured, will not be the last action carried out by a shahid (martyr) – meaning a suicide... MORE

On March 23, the village of Gubden in Dagestan was completely blockaded by Russian military, police and Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After that, the servicemen began to search the homes of local residents. Sources in Gubden told the author of this piece that armed... MORE

Turmoil in the Arab world has elicited contrasting responses from the two sides of Georgia’s political opposition. Extra-parliamentary radical groups (themselves of varied colors) seem inspired to start yet another regime-change campaign. The parliamentary opposition, on the other hand, rejects the use of “revolutionary” methods... MORE

On March 28, the Russian security forces launched a large-scale assault on militants in Ingushetia.  The Russian air force was used to bomb rebels in the mountainous Upper Alkun area of the republic. Ground operations were carried out in Ingushetia’s largest town, Nazran, and other... MORE

Armenia and Azerbaijan claim that the prospects for resolving their dispute over Karabakh have brightened as result of a fresh meeting by their presidents hosted by their Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev. Each conflicting party claims that the other has adopted a more flexible stance that... MORE