The increasing rebel attacks in Dagestan (see EDM, July 7) have finally forced Russian authorities to focus on the problems of the republic. Officials in Moscow now realize that the region needs special handling. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov recently conceded, "Of course we are... MORE

After weeks of vehemently denying media speculation about the imminent dismissal, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili fired Tbilisi Mayor Zurab Chiaberashvili on July 12. Chiaberashvili had called the rumors "a well-planned campaign," coming from people he had accused of stealing from Tbilisi's budget. At the same... MORE

South Ossetia's pro-Moscow leaders have lost no time rejecting Georgia's offer for direct negotiations toward South Ossetian autonomy. President Mikheil Saakashvili's offer, unveiled at an international conference in Batumi on July 10, entails a preparatory stage during which Georgia and international donor organizations would provide... MORE

At a conference in Batumi on July 10, President Mikheil Saakashvili and the government of Georgia along with Georgian NGOs unveiled a blueprint for the stage-by-stage resolution of the conflict in South Ossetia. Foreign envoys accredited in Tbilisi, American and European experts, Georgian government officials,... MORE

For the first time since the November 2003 Rose Revolution, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government has faced a large-scale, violent anti-governmental rally involving major opposition parties. The protest erupted June 30 on Tbilisi's central avenue after a court sentenced two popular wrestlers, Alexei Davitashvili, president... MORE

Reflecting the influence of the Armenian community in the United States, the U.S. Congress is blocking yet another attempt by the White House to sizably cut long-running American assistance to Armenia. The small South Caucasus state is thus due to remain one of the world's... MORE

On June 4, Russian federal troops conducted a mopping-up operation in the Chechen village of Borozdinovskaya, located in the north of the republic near the Dagestan border. This security sweep was a response to the rebel attacks that intensified in northern Chechnya this year (Chechnya... MORE

The situation in South Ossetia is still teetering between war and peace. Unidentified Ossetian gunmen kidnapped four Georgians from the ethnic Georgian-populated villages inside this breakaway region on June 6, and they are still missing. Search efforts by Georgian and Ossetian law enforcement and the... MORE