On July 18, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka dismissed the chairman of the National Bank of Belarus, Pyotr Prakapovich. Last month, Lukashenka asserted that the latter had “made mistakes” (Bloomberg, June 23). No replacement was announced, so in the meantime Yury Alymov continues as acting chairman.One... MORE

Georgia’s official presidential photographer, another photographer who was an Internal Affairs Ministry contract employee, and the Tbilisi representative of the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), have all pleaded guilty and received suspended sentences on espionage charges. The three were in pre-trial detention since July 7, suspected... MORE

On July 12, the leader of the German Green party Cem Oezdemir resigned from the board of trustees of Germany’s Quadriga fund. Oezdemir was one of the first public figures to protest Quadriga’s plan to give an award to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He... MORE

On July 14, Tajik authorities released Urunboy Usmonov, a local correspondent for the BBC’s Uzbek service, who spent one month in pre-trial detention on suspicion of belonging to a banned Islamic group. It appears that the unusual publicity and widespread international criticism generated by Usmonov’s... MORE

Although Ukraine has mended fences with Russia and made progress in the political association and free trade talks with the EU since Viktor Yanukovych’s election as president in February 2010, additional movement in both directions simultaneously is hardly possible. The multivector policy, which was chosen... MORE

A series of rebel attacks were reported this past week in Dagestan, graphically illustrating that the republic remains the epicenter of insurgent activity in the North Caucasus.In Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala today (July 22), gunmen targeted Col. Akhmed Bataliev, the head of the republic’s center for... MORE

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States government was in discussions with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood on June 30. That the U.S. was willing to reach out to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) - an 83-year old Islamist organization often criticized for providing... MORE

Eleven cross-border incursions over the last four months in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region have taken place despite several army operations in Pakistan and the NATO presence across the border in Afghanistan, demonstrating the continued strength of militants in the border region. The incursions, allegedly carried... MORE

News about increased military operations against rebels in Chechnya has unexpectedly been coming out of Chechnya over the last two months. What has been unusual about the reporting is that they describe full-scale warfare, which has not taken place in Chechnya since the end of... MORE

On July 18, the Russian air force launched a surprise massive military exercise in Kabardino-Balkaria. Fifteen military aircraft are taking part in the exercises, including Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, Su-34, MIG-29 and Tu-22M3 planes, and Mi-24 and Mi-28 helicopters. These are the largest maneuvers in Kabardino-Balkaria... MORE