On October 31, Georgia held by-elections for two vacant parliamentary seats in the districts of Martvili and Sagarejo (Channel 1, Rustavi 2, Civil Georgia, October 31). The by-elections did not have much significance from an electoral perspective, since even if the ruling Georgian Dream (GD)... MORE

Moldova’s internal collapse is, at last, concentrating the West’s attention. Western officials are generally surprised and aghast. They worry, moreover, about the potential repercussions in the region: Moldova does, after all, account for a 700-kilometer stretch of the Baltic-Pontic isthmus. Blindsided by the “Moldovan success... MORE

Experts have paid insufficient attention to news of an assassination attempt against Ramzan Kadyrov at the beginning of November 2015. The reported attempt on the Chechen ruler’s life illuminates what the current situation in Chechnya is like. On November 1, Russian media made the surprise... MORE

The first term of the governor of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Rashid Temrezov, will end in 2016, and experts say the republic’s clans have been gearing up to forestall his reappointment by the Kremlin. While Temrezov has been quite successful in maintaining good relations with the federal authorities... MORE

Two foremost Belarusian opposition-minded political analysts, Yury Drakakhrust of Radio Liberty and Tut.by along with Alexander Klaskovsky of Belarus’s non-state press agency BelaPan, recently published thought-provoking articles about the potential impact on Belarus of the November 13 “black Friday” terrorist attack (BFTA) in Paris. Both... MORE

Vladimir Putin’s flagrant abuse of Russian laws governing the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGO) has led to the demonization and even closure of many of them. Such policies have, not surprisingly, made rights activists worldwide deeply suspicious of any legislation in other post-Soviet states that... MORE

On November 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Adygea’s governor, Aslan Thakushinov. The governor boasted that economic conditions in the republic are improving under his leadership. According to Thakushinov, Adygea’s own revenues increased three-fold while the subsidies the republic receives from Moscow were reduced... MORE

For the second time in the past twelve months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has voiced concerns about the long-term stability of the Western Balkans. Her first claim, made in November 2014, referred to Russia’s potential neo-imperial appetite in the region following the annexation of Crimea... MORE

Mao Zedong once warned: “Whenever you want to overthrow a regime, you must first create public opinion… If the military defense line is not stable, it will break down after one blow, if the ideological defense line is not stable, it will fall of its... MORE

Following the killing of the Ingush jamaat’s amir in Nazran on August 31, the Kabardino-Balkarian jamaat also experienced a major setback. The Russian security services managed to kill Robert Zankishiev, who was better known among the armed Islamist underground movement of the North Caucasus as... MORE