Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Putin_and_Poroshenko.jpg)
Russia’s Policy Toward Ukraine: Strategic Design, Operational Flexibility
Russia’s grand policy objective toward Ukraine can be defined, broadly, as doing away with Ukraine’s sovereign statehood. Toward that goal, Russia is resorting to military power (in a progression from hybrid to conventional), political-psychological warfare, economic pressures, and phased-in territorial fragmentation (Donbas partition, Novorossiya project,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Crimean_Tatars_-_EDM_October_9__2014.jpg)
Kremlin Targets Crimean Muslims as Part of Crimea Crackdown
Since Russia occupied Crimea with its strategically important naval port and the Russian military base in Sevastopol this past February (UNIAN, February 27), life there has become increasingly dangerous for those who do not share the political views of the Russian leadership. It was the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Irakli_Garibashvili_-_EDM_October_8__2014.jpg)
Two Years After the Change of Government in Georgia: Contradictory Results
Two years ago, in October 2012, Georgia experienced a peaceful, non-violent, constitutional change of power for the first time in the country’s modern history. The first president of the Republic of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was elected on May 26, 1991, was overthrown by armed... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Russian_military_draft_-_EDM_October_8__2014.jpg)
Russia May Use North Caucasians for Hybrid Warfare in Central Asian and European Conflicts
On September 30, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the fall 2014 Russian military draft. The government is expected to draft 154,100 men, the same number as in the spring 2014 draft campaign. The Russian laws on the draft will be extended to newly-annexed... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/lukashenko_belarus.jpg)
Lukashenka’s Rating and Belarusian Identity
The September national survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS), the most trusted Belarusian polling firm, headquartered in Lithuania, shows that both the electoral rating of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and public trust vested in him have gone up. Whereas in June,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/doctor.jpg)
Putin’s Cutbacks in Health Care Send Russian Mortality Rates Back Up
Russia has now fallen to 51st place among the countries of the world in terms of the effectiveness of its medical system, behind Azerbaijan and Belarus. This decline reflects Vladimir Putin’s budgetary priorities, and it has boosted Russia’s mortality rate this year to 13.3 deaths... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2012_08_22_00_21_1723_04_circassians.jpg)
Situation of Circassian Refugees from Syria Reportedly Precarious in Karachaevo-Cherkessia
As civil war rages in Syria, Circassians there are trying to escape to other countries, but few of them have been able to return to their historical homeland in the North Caucasus. A handful of the Circassians ended up in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, where Circassians are the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Putin.jpg)
Forget the Economy—It’s Geopolitics, Putin
The trickle of sad and sour economic news continues to exacerbate Russia’s stagnant economic outlook, but the Kremlin authorities remain resolutely indifferent to these negative trends. They presume that the arrival of a “technical” recession does not constitute a political challenge because the “below-middle” classes... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Uzbek_train_01.jpg)
Uzbekistan Seeks to Reinvigorate Its Diplomatic Clout in the Region (Part One)
Tashkent’s recent diplomatic efforts to serve and actively pursue its vital national interests may best be described by the mantra “a strategy is always square, but tactics are always round.” The attendance of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, at the most recent summit of... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Muradov_operation.jpg)
Reappearance of ‘Slain’ Dagestani Militant Disproves FSB Claims
Practically every month, Moscow boastfully announces it has killed a leader of one of the territorial branches of the Islamic underground armed resistance. However, the statistics regularly provided by Russian authorities concerning the insurgency raise doubts about the authenticity of these claims. Indeed, the number... MORE