Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Mikheil_Saakashvili_and_Bidzina_Ivanishvili_-_EDM_February_19__2013.jpg)
Ivanishvili’s Government Creates a Scapegoat, While Finding It Hard to Deliver on Its Promises
On February 15, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) party, as part of a power-sharing agreement, confirmed its proposal to the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition that a large part of the new constitutional provisions should go into effect now, instead of in... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Vladimir_Putin_at_G20_ministerial_in_Moscow_-_EDM_February_18__2013.jpg)
Disarray Among Putin’s Elites Deepens as Russia’s Self-Isolation Progresses
The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in the early hours of February 15, as damaging as it was, produced even more jokes than material destruction. One of those was about the State Duma urgently approving legislation banning the incursions of celestial bodies because of their... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Vladimir_Kolokoltsev_-_EDM_February_15__2013.jpg)
With Eye to Sochi, Interior Ministry Foresees Reductions in the North Caucasus
In January, government forces killed 26 militants in the North Caucasus Federal District. Eight of those killed were referred to as leaders of the illegal armed groups. In the same period, 101 police operations were carried out in the district. Russia’s law enforcement agencies noted... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Abdumalik_Abdullojonov_-_EDM_February_14__2013.jpg)
Leader of Northern Tajikistan Is Arrested in Ukraine
The former prime minister of Tajikistan, Abdumalik Abdullojonov, was arrested in Ukraine last week at the request of Tajik authorities. Abdullojonov claims that his life would be in jeopardy if he were extradited to Dushanbe. He was declared wanted internationally 16 years ago. Tajikistan charges... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Irakly_Alasania__C__with_Bidzina_Ivanishvili__R__-_EDM_February_14__2013.jpg)
New Georgian Ruling Regime Attempts to Shed Allies and Consolidate Power
On February 5, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili made a number of statements addressed to Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, some of which sounded like accusations and warnings against the leader of the Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) party and one of the leaders of the ruling... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/St_Petersburg_police_operation_-_EDM_February_14__2013.jpg)
Authorities See Salafi Groups Popping Up Everywhere Inside Russia
The Russian government has been forced to admit it is worried not only about Islam’s proliferation in the North Caucasus, but also about the proliferation of ideas of the North Caucasian militants spreading to other regions of Russia. Russian authorities are trying to prevent the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Vladimir_Putin_-_EDM_February_14__2013.jpg)
Aggressive Nationalism and Anti-Americanism Are the Kremlin’s New Ideological Pillars
This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officials—the so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSB—Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still consider our nation one... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Gadzhimet_Safaraliev_-_EDM_February_13__2013.jpg)
Failure to Heed Circassian Interests Undermines Russia’s Claims to Respect Ethnic Equality
On February 1, the head of the Russian parliament’s Committee for Nationalities, Gadzhimet Safaraliev, stated that the State Duma was preparing amendments to the country’s citizenship law that would allow former subjects of the Soviet Union and Russian Empire to migrate to the Russian Federation... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Stavropol__Russian_Federation_-_EDM_February_12__2013.jpg)
‘Secret’ Mosque Case Agitates Stavropol, Goes Viral on Russian Internet
Just as a fight in a bar in the Karelian city of Kondopoga in August 2006 helped power a dramatic rise in ethnic Russian activism against immigrants from the Caucasus (see EDM, November 6, 2006), so too local media reports in recent weeks that have... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Makhachkala_Feb_8_protest_-_EDM_February_11__2013.jpg)
Dagestan’s New Leader Remains Reticent About His Policies
On February 8, a protest rally took place in the Dagestani capital Makhachkala. The protesters accused the police of discriminating against Muslims in this Muslim-majority North Caucasian republic. “In the past I repeatedly addressed all government offices, asking them to properly investigate the injury inflicted... MORE