The opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games (February 7) was just about picture-perfect, and the sizeable legion of critics, including most of the home-grown disbelievers in the ability of the ruling plutocracy to organize this mega-event, had to eat their words. It is... MORE

The crackdown on “human flesh searches” and including cybersecurity within the jurisdiction of the recently created National Security Committee, are the most recent episodes in a series that outlines the Communist Party’s concern and intent regarding social media. Xi Jinping’s administration is concerned that social... MORE

Since the start of the year, the conflicting sides in the North Caucasus and media monitoring organizations have begun providing figures for the number of people killed and wounded in fighting between government forces and militants in 2013.Losses in the conflict between the Caucasus Emirate... MORE

The 2014 Winter Olympics, which are estimated to have cost the Russian taxpayer some $50 billion, will be officially declared open this week (February 7) in Sochi by President Vladimir Putin. The games are intended to magnify before the world Putin’s personal achievements and triumphs... MORE

During the past month, Azerbaijan’s social media has been inundated with reports about a growing number of Azerbaijani nationals who have gone to Syria to fight for the cause of Syrian rebels. Some of these fighters have already returned home. In late January 2014, the... MORE

Referendums are not always simply an instrument of democracy, but can be a manipulative tool of politics. Regardless of regime type, political leaders in the past have invoked the will of the people to legitimize and advance their own political agendas. In Gagauzia, an autonomous... MORE

On January 30, civil activists in Karachaevo-Cherkessia appealed to republican Interior Minister Kazimir Botashev, calling on him to provide answers about high-profile murders in the republic in recent years. “We know that the murderers in some of these crimes were found and punished,” the appeal... MORE

Despite widespread fears and even hysteria among Russians, fertility rates—the number of children per lifetime per woman—are falling among the peoples of the North Caucasus and now approach those of the Russian Federation as a whole. That reality, one commentator says, has been largely ignored... MORE

Amid an ongoing domestic political scandal, Uzbekistan may face another wave of investment capital flight. On January 2, British-Canadian Tethys Petroleum announced its decision to leave Uzbekistan and focus on projects in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Tethys Petroleum is a public company listed on the Toronto... MORE

On January 29, the Memorial human rights center reported that the police in Dagestan had compiled lists of Salafis and required people on such lists to notify the authorities when they intend to travel outside the republic. Suspected Salafis are required to submit such notifications... MORE