Dedicated Belarus watchers are almost certainly bemoaning the recent termination of a reputable non-state polling firm, the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) (Belapan, August 9). Founded in 1992 by Oleg Manaev, a sociology professor at the Belarusian State University (BSU), IISEPS conducted... MORE

On August 25, the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, held an unusually late, evening meeting with the governor of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The portion of their discussion published on the Kremlin’s official website gave no apparent indication as why this meeting needed to... MORE

The death of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov at 78 has focused attention on the issue of generational change both past and present across post-Soviet Central Asia. Given the central role played by these five republics’ presidents in the aftermath of the Soviet Union, that is... MORE

On August 1st, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) celebrated the 89th anniversary of its founding. Units from the CMC to defense attaché officers overseas host receptions honoring the PLA’s historical achievements from its origins in the 1927 Nanchang Uprising to today. Indicative of the self-congratulatory... MORE

After long years of model stability, Kazakhstan is currently facing increasing turbulence in its economy and security. The country continues to struggle with the negative repercussions of the oil market slowdown, which has exacerbated social tensions domestically—most notably observed in the country-wide protests over land... MORE

The Belarusian Ministry of Energy confirmed, on July 26, that an emergency situation occurred earlier that month at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) (Energobelarus.by, July 27). The power station is being built 18 kilometers from the town of Ostrovets (Grodno... MORE

Academics, journalists and other free-thinking intellectuals have taken the bold step of calling for more freedom of expression and less Internet censorship. Others want to resuscitate long-stalled political reform. For the first time since Xi Jinping took power in late 2012, the official media have... MORE

Pavel Sheremet (born in 1971), one of the most well-known Belarusian journalists, was killed on July 20, in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, where he was working for the last five years (Ukrainskaya Pravda, Tut.by, July 20). The car Sheremet was driving fell victim to an explosive... MORE

Mass arrests of parishioners of mosques associated with the Salafist movement have become routine in Dagestan. For example, on July 15, the police cracked down on the mosque on Vengerskikh Boitsov Street, in Makhachkala, when up to 50 parishioners were detained (Newsru.com, July 15). Exactly... MORE

The Russian-occupied separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia held a referendum on July 11 to decide whether the population supported holding early presidential elections. The referendum, which the opposition had demanded, ended up being declared invalid by the Abkhazian Central Election Commission (CEC) because barely 1... MORE