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

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

Nearly two more months remain before the presidential elections in Uzbekistan, to be held on March 29, and candidates from all four political parties have been identified (Uzbekistan.org, January 26). However, any change to the status quo in the country’s political climate appears unlikely for... MORE

Analysts at the Russian Institute for Strategic Research (RISI), a Moscow-based think tank that pushed hard for Russia to invade Ukraine (Nr2.com.ua, January 13), are now urging Moscow to overthrow Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Until 2009, RISI was officially connected to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service... MORE

Since the start of this year, Georgian political life has been increasingly dominated by the deepening and all-consuming conflict between President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. This time, the cause of contention between the two men became the question of whether the government... MORE

On January 7, unidentified assailants vandalized the tomb of Seid Mir-Gafar-aga in Derbent, Dagestan (see EDM, January 13, 15). The tomb is a place of worship for ethnic Azerbaijanis and the act of vandalism sparked tensions between the Azerbaijani community and the rest of the... MORE

The sharp escalation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine last week (January 22) has disheartened many in Europe who had hoped for a gradual resolution of the Ukraine conflict. On the other hand, it has been a welcome return to the path of victory for many... MORE

Amidst the economic crisis in Russia and the ensuing devaluation of the Belarusian ruble, Belarus has been making increasingly notable attempts to voice its independent opinion on the world stage as well as improve its relations with the West. On January 13, Belarus lowered the... MORE

President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union message (delivered before Congress on January 20) that US economic sanctions have had a devastating impact on the Russian economy (Tvrain.ru, January 21). In reality, only certain parts of the economy of Russia have been... MORE

A deliberately gory June 2014 report on the Shi’a Ahl al-Bayt website, no doubt intended to arouse emotions, shows a photo of the bloodied face of Alireza Moshajari. It describes him as the first of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to have become a “martyr”... MORE