Dagestan, the most ethnically complex republic in the North Caucasus, faces an ever greater risk that it will disintegrate as Yugoslavia did. This growing danger exists both because of the changing demographics and power relationships within this Russian federal-level entity and due to the growing... MORE

An estimated 32,000 people turned out for an “anti-Maidan” rally in Moscow on Saturday, February 21. The Russian march, condemning the Ukrainian government and its war in the country’s east, began on Moscow’s central Petrovka Street and ended at Revolution Square. The demonstration, which had... MORE

On February 2, Tajikistan’s government approved an “anti-crisis program” designed to stimulate economic growth by creating 200,000 new jobs (Ozodi, February 2). While the details of the stimulus plan are uncertain, the causes of Tajikistan’s current economic woes are clear. In particular, the Russian economic... MORE

Circassian activists and their supporters in Ukraine continue working on a project for recognition of the Circassian “genocide.” On February 13, Dmitro Linko, a member of the Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko, registered the new legislation in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. On February... MORE

The new Prime Minister of Mongolia, Chimediin Saikhanbileg, whose ‘Reconciliation Government’ has been in power less than three months, visited Japan on February 9–11 to sign a Mongolian-Japanese Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe. This economic partnership agreement, effective immediately, was... MORE

The Chinese government’s decision to further liberalize its economy by establishing free trade zones (FTZ) has generated widespread optimism about the future of economic reform in China. The FTZ project, beginning with the creation of the Shanghai zone on September 29, 2013, is not only... MORE

Recent events have raised fresh questions over the relationship between the Islamic State militant group and al-Qaeda. For instance, militants from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group’s Yemen-based franchise, are reported to have coordinated the multiple jihadist attacks in... MORE

On January 28, a village parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate) in Ternopil province published a letter to the Ukrainian Church’s primate, Metropolitan Onufriy. In the letter, the priests and lay activists strongly criticized recent controversial statements made by the... MORE

A commonly held view in Russia is that the government consists of “a good tsar and bad boyars.” That is, the population tends to have a positive attitude about whoever sits at the top of the ruling hierarchy; while most, or even all, of the... MORE

The Terek Cossack Military is facing a crisis as the Cossacks and the Russian authorities cannot find a candidate for the leadership position in the organization that would satisfy both sides. The initial plan to hold elections for the new ataman (Cossack chieftain) in February... MORE