The investigation into the September 1 terrorist attack on the North Ossetian town of Beslan continues. Apart from law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors, the Russian Federation Council and State Duma have also established an independent commission to tackle the problem. Commission members visited North Ossetia in... MORE

In late September, two remarkable anniversaries passed nearly unnoticed in Moscow. On September 20, 1994, the first contract on developing Caspian oilfields was signed between the government of Azerbaijan and the consortium of ten international oil companies (AIOC). On September 29, 1999, Russian troops moved... MORE

On October 4, Abkhazia's Central Election Commission (CEC) declared Raul Khajimba winner of the October 3 presidential election. Outgoing Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba had backed Khajimba's candidacy. According to the CEC, Khajimba received 101,500 votes (52.84%), runner-up Sergei Bagapsh took 64,500 (33.58%), Sergei Shamba 19,050... MORE

The Georgian political establishment has reacted angrily to a one-hour documentary entitled, "Who is Misha?" about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The film was broadcast on Russian television on September 29 by NTV's popular program "Soversheno Sekretno." The film was heavy on the details of Saakashvili's... MORE

As the great powers demonstrate their resolve to crush terrorism and declare their readiness to strike preventively at terrorist bases "anywhere in the world," some lesser international actors appear ready to take advantage of this strategy. Recently a senior cabinet member from Greek Cyprus accused... MORE

Leading politicians and other observers have issued fresh warnings that tensions between Ossetians and Ingush, exacerbated by the September 1 school siege in Beslan, could soon explode into violence. Ingushetia's former president, Ruslan Aushev, whose early mediation efforts with the Beslan hostage-takers, who reportedly included... MORE

On October 3, voters in Abkhazia will choose a successor to their ailing president. Vladislav Ardzinba led the region in its fight for independence from Georgia in 1992 and 1993 before becoming president of the self-declared republic in 1994. The new president of Abkhazia will... MORE

Georgia has proposed an OSCE-hosted international conference that would institute genuine peacekeeping and negotiating mechanisms regarding South Ossetia. The process, once launched, would ultimately work out a definitive political solution to the South Ossetia conflict. OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Solomon Passy, has... MORE

Georgia's draft media law is rapidly becoming a major embarrassment for the Saakashvili government. Ironically, the new legislation, if adopted, would make life much harder for the Georgian media, which was a key player during the Rose Revolution of November 2003. Georgia's new tax code,... MORE

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addressed an audience of prominent businessmen and other distinguished Americans and Europeans at a special event hosted for him by the Jamestown Foundation in New York on September 20. Saakashvili spoke on Georgia's state consolidation, its security problems, and its Euro-Atlantic... MORE