Latest Articles about Domestic/Social

Action Plan to End War in Ukraine Charted at Berlin Meeting (Part One)
An overall consensus, in broad outline, seems to have taken shape among the main European players, pre-eminently Moscow and Berlin, to accelerate a solution to the conflict “in” Ukraine by the end of this year, on Russia’s terms. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted a meeting... MORE

Ukraine’s Pro-Government Parties Join Forces Ahead of Local Elections
The parties of President Petro Poroshenko, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klichko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk have joined forces ahead of the local elections scheduled for October 25. This is in order to defeat the Opposition Bloc, which is associated with the government overthrown in February... MORE

Putin Absent, His Agenda Dominates at Normandy Group Meeting on Ukraine
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and French President François Hollande, on August 24, in Berlin (“Normandy” format minus Russia), at Poroshenko’s urgent request. This unprecedented meeting followed systematic violations of the ceasefire and open sabotage of the international monitoring mission by... MORE

Circassians in Adygea Fiercely Oppose Cossack Patrols
The Cossack organization of Adygea is pushing for the introduction of Cossack patrols in the republic like those in neighboring Krasnodar region. Circassians in Adygea, however, are against the move, fearing the Cossacks will gain disproportionate power in the republic. “When a Cossack patrol steps... MORE

Political Tensions Rise in Dagestan as Municipal Elections Approach
Dagestan remains one of the few Russian regions in which local political life still exists despite all of Moscow’s efforts to eliminate it. Tensions are running high in the republic as 23 parties gear up for municipal elections in September. As the largest and most... MORE

Is He Really Dead This Time?: The Nine Lives of Mokhtar Belmokhtar
In the extremely fluid and opaque Northern African jihadist landscape, recent events have brought into the spotlight the fate of likely the most famous, and in a sense “mythical,” jihadist—Mokhtar Belmokhtar (a.k.a. Khaled Abu Abbass, and his many nicknames include “the Elusive,” “Marlboro man” and... MORE

A Post-Mortem Analysis of Mullah Shwan, Islamic State’s Kurdish Mastermind
The Iraqi Kurdish cleric Mullah Shwan (a.k.a. Abu Haroon al-Kurdi) was killed in a coalition airstrike on July 28, in Kirkuk province (Basnews, July 29). Mullah Shwan was the second-highest man in charge of the Islamic State in the Kirkuk governorate (Wilayat Kirkuk); he recruited... MORE

A Brief Sketch of Shafiur Rahman Farabi: Bangladesh’s Online Jihadist Troll
Unlike the copybook Islamic jihadists or extremist militant ideologues of the Indian Subcontinent, Shafiur Rahman Farabi is an over ground, overt Islamist who is engaged in an online pro-Islamist campaign and incitement against non-believers and free speech activists in Bangladesh. [1] He is notorious for... MORE

Almir Daci: The Albanian Recruiter for the Islamic State
According to recent reports, over 1,000 foreign fighters from the Western Balkans have joined the Islamic State, predominantly coming from Muslim communities throughout the region (Illyria Press, August 8). Several Balkan think tanks have attempted to provide the generic profiles of foreign fighters that have... MORE

Rise of Islamic State Reignites British Radicalization Threat
During much of the 1990s and 2000s, the United Kingdom was the undisputed hub of much of the jihadist radicalization and activism in Western Europe. This was caused by a confluence of factors, including active and entrenched Islamist and Salafist networks that provided a seedbed... MORE