Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
Tensions Rise Between Ethnic Russians and Armenians in Stavropol Region
On the night of January 21, ethnic Russians and ethnic Armenians clashed in the city of Mineralnye Vody in Stavropol region. Mikhail Grigoryan, a 23-year-old ethnic Armenian, stabbed to death Dmitry Sidorenko, a 29-year-old ethnic Russian and member of the Russian armed forces. The suspect... MORE
Iran’s Man in Iraq – A Post-Mortem Analysis of the Career of IRGC Brigadier General Hamid Taqavi
On December 28, 2014, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the death of Brigadier General Hamid Taqavi in Samarra, Iraq. The Islamic State has since accepted responsibility for the killing of Taqavi (AFP, December 29, 2014). Taqavi was killed while on an advisory mission... MORE
A Profile of Pakistani Taliban Spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan
December 16, 2014 marked the single worst terror attack in Pakistani history. The assault led by members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the Army Public School in Peshawar claimed the lives of 141 people, 132 of whom were school children (BBC, December 16, 2014).... MORE
Umar Mansoor: The Mastermind of the Peshawar School Attack
The targeting of children at the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014 by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has heralded a new era of terrorism in Pakistan. The brutal and coldblooded murder of 141 people, most of them students in the ninth grade, is... MORE
The Partisan Movements in Belarus During World War II (Part One)
Belarus stands out from other European countries in terms of the casualty rates it suffered during World War II: close to one-third of the entire population of Belarus perished in the war. Another distinguishing feature of Belarus is the role played by its underground partisan... MORE
North Caucasus Militants Split Between Caucasus Emirate and Islamic State, as Radical Islam Gains Influence in Region
In the run-up to the fifth anniversary of the founding the North Caucasus Federal District, Russia’s Ministry of Interior officially reported the results of 2014. It said the law enforcement agencies last year killed 259 members of the armed underground movement, including 36 leaders. In... MORE
Fissures in Russo-Armenian Partnership Spill out Into Yerevan’s International Relations
As the investigation into the January 12 murder of the Avetisyan family (see EDM, January 16) continues, several top Armenian officials have admitted that the Russian side’s refusal to hand over Valery Permyakov, Russian soldier who is the main suspect in the case, contradicts existing... MORE
Moscow Becomes Increasingly Worried About Russian Nationals Fighting With Islamic State
Russia has finally become concerned about its nationals fighting in Syria against its ally, Bashar al-Assad, and has begun targeting fighters returning from abroad. The authorities’ actions sometimes take an outrageous turn, such as when they recently accused men who had been in Egypt on... MORE
Authorities Crack Down on Tatarstan Activists
On December 28, 2014, authorities in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, detained Tatar rights activist Rafis Kashapov upon his return from Turkey, where he had reportedly received medical treatment and held meetings with local activists. The authorities ordered the activist detained for two months... MORE
Is Belarus Benefiting From a Change in the West’s Perspective?
It is tempting to slip into a spiral of sensationalism when describing the concurrent trends in Belarus’s foreign relations and national aspirations, even though—if history is any guide—these trends may be reversed as abruptly as they started. So far, however, tensions have been on the... MORE