On April 28, 2011, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report. A full chapter concerns the Chechen Republic—the only Russian region to which the report pays special attention.The report emphasizes that since Ramzan Kadyrov has been appointed to head... MORE

A tense situation prevails in the Belarusian capital of Minsk after a series of political and economic events placed unusual pressure on the Lukashenka regime. These include an unresolved terrorist attack on April 11, a new crackdown on opposition figures, a 20 percent rise in... MORE

On May 4, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin presided over a government meeting on the socio-economic development of the North Caucasus. Putin announced the decision to allocate nearly $2 billion for an investment protection fund for this risk-prone territory. In addition the government corporation for... MORE

China’s environmental problems are apparent to any visitor, and the statistics are striking: China is home to 20 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities, 90 percent of China’s rivers and lakes are polluted, and the Chinese government dealt with 580,000 environmental complaints in 2006... MORE

The just-published results of the People's Republic of China (PRC) 2010 Census have shown that just like any other country, the Middle Kingdom has to contend with the sobering limitations of demographics. Perhaps the only good news among the barrage of statistics is that at... MORE

The Caspian nations have reiterated pledges to solve their differences later this year ahead of the Caspian summit in Moscow, but they apparently continued to disagree on a number of key issues. During a meeting in Baku on April 26 – 27, representatives of the... MORE

On May 2nd, a group of international experts presented their view of Kyrgyzstan’s violence in June 2010, which took the lives of 470 and displaced over 400,000 people. Finish MP Kimmo Kiljunen reported findings of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (KIC) in Bishkek, summarizing over five... MORE

Jordan has not escaped the political turmoil and street confrontations that have enveloped the Middle East during the so-called “Arab Spring.” The on-going debate between the Jordanian government and protestors seeking political reform in Jordan escalated on March 24 when one man died and scores... MORE

Boko Haram carried out a series of attacks in northern Nigeria during the country’s elections, which began on April 9 with legislative elections and continued on April 16 and April 26 with presidential and gubernatorial elections. While Boko Haram has typically targeted government buildings, military... MORE

(Part Two) The issue of seasonal “forced” labor in the Uzbek cotton harvest has been taken up by the International Labor Organization (ILO) where it belongs. It appears that G-TIP has taken a UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) checklist to come to the conclusion... MORE