Political reform in China since Deng Xiaoping’s “Southern Tour” in 1992 has seemed a distant if always tempting narrative for analysts and observers. The cycles of foreign hope and disappointment with Chinese leadership attest to this. The most recent stirrings of political reform discussion may... MORE

Every news item about insurgent activities in Karachaevo-Cherkessia should be put in the wider context of the general situation in the North Caucasus. On a regional scale, the events in this republic are immeasurably small, especially compared to the other North Caucasus republics or to... MORE

The Moscow Center of Strategic Studies (CSS) – an influential think tank led by well-known economist, former parliamentarian and first deputy economics minister in Vladimir Putin’s first government, Mikhail Dmitriev – has recently published a report about the ongoing political and economic crisis in Russia.... MORE

On June 19, the first meeting of the new Russian government commission for the socio-economic development of the North Caucasus took place in Grozny, Chechnya. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presided over the meeting and stated that development of the North Caucasus was “one of the... MORE

In June, 2010, an armed conflict between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz occurred in the south of Kyrgyzstan. According to official statements, around 500 people were killed; according to unofficial data – more than 2,000. Most victims were Uzbeks. According to official reports, 3,746 houses were... MORE

On June 5, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria’s department for civil and religious organizations, Anzor Kurashinov, revealed that 300 more Syrian Circassians were expected to arrive in the republic before the end of 2012. Kurashinov estimated that 150 repatriates had arrived in Kabardino-Balkaria from Syria to... MORE

Two stories dominated the news-cycle in Moscow last week: the targeted police investigations against several opposition leaders on the eve and in the aftermath of the big rally on June 12, and a high-level silovik’s direct threat against a journalist from Novaya Gazeta. Commentators and... MORE

Anti-Chechen and anti-Caucasian hysteria in the Russian media is rapidly expanding. Russian authorities have always regulated this kind of campaigns behind the scenes, depending on Moscow’s objectives in the North Caucasus at a given moment. For example, the start of the second war in Chechnya... MORE

In the spring of 2011, everything seemed to be going right for Hezbollah (“the Party of God”) in Lebanon. Five years after the war with Israel, its forces in the south of the country were not only reorganized, but also reinforced. In Beirut, the new... MORE

In the new Middle East, formerly suppressed political parties, movements, and ideas are increasingly shaping a political and ideological discourse that departs from previous paradigms.  An equally important trend that is receiving less attention, however, is the mobilization of counterrevolutionary and reactionary forces opposed to... MORE