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

Since announcing the establishment of the caliphate in June 2014, the Islamic State has broadcast its successes in expanding into new territories outside of Syria and Iraq, aiming to create the perception that it is growing rapidly throughout the Muslim world, and steadily chipping away... MORE

After seven months of military operations in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are facing a counter-offensive by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Houthis—who refer to themselves as Ansar Allah—and allied units of the Yemeni Army launched a three-pronged offensive designed to broadly encircle Yemen’s... MORE

After the French-led military intervention in northern Mali in 2013, the leading jihadist groups there, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), its affiliate Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) and its local “front group” Ansar Dine, dispersed from the towns they... MORE

On October 31, government forces killed the leader of the Ingush jamaat, Beslan Makhauri, better known as Amir Muhammad. Makhauri was killed along with another insurgent, named Ilyas Vedzizhev, in the central market of the city of Nazran (Interfax, October 31). One strange thing about... MORE

In early November, journalists and analysts convened in Tallinn, Estonia, for the fifth annual meeting of the “Rubicon” conference fully devoted to issues pertaining to Belarus. This year, the major topic was “Belarus as a factor of regional security and stability.” The participants were unable... MORE