Background Muhammad Yasin Malik, the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has undergone a 15-year transformation from underground militant leader fomenting violence to an advocate for a non-violent solution to the festering crisis plaguing South Asia’s northernmost tier for decades. He describes... MORE

On February 22, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva said that the country’s major criminal kingpin, Kamchy Kolbayev, was placed on the government’s wanted list. Although many in Kyrgyzstan know about Kolbayev’s criminal’s activity, Otunbayeva’s announcement symbolizes the Kyrgyz police’s attempt to tackle the criminal underworld. Whether... MORE

On February 27, a counterterrorist operation regime in Kabardino-Balkaria was extended to parts of the republican capital Nalchik, and the Chegem and Cherek districts. The counterterrorist operation had been established earlier in parts of the Elbrus and Baksan districts. The introduction of a counterterrorist operation... MORE

The shockingly violent civil war in Libya has pushed the Russian leadership to re-evaluate the nature and the impact of the revolutions that keep shaking the Arab world. Worries in the Kremlin are very different from concerns in Washington about the departure of such loyal... MORE

On February 21, Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission announced that 22 candidates had submitted their applications to participate in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for April 3, but only 14 were successful. Seven applicants, according to the Central Election Commission, were removed from the list of... MORE

Russia plans to modernize its oil production sector, notably state-owned companies, by pursuing international energy partnerships. The Kremlin has increasingly prioritized modernization and innovation slogans. On January 31, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russian state-owned companies, including oil giant Rosneft, should do more to pursue a... MORE

*For more on African mercenaries in Libya, read Andrew McGregor's "Special Commentary: Can African Mercenaries Save the Libyan Regime?"

As Punjab governor Salman Taseer came out of a restaurant in an upscale area of Islamabad, one of his bodyguards uttered the slogan “Allahu Akbar” and fired on the man he was supposed to guard, killing him on the spot. The assassin in the January... MORE

When Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi took the stage in Tahrir Square on February 18, it was the first time in decades that the leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and influential Doha-based TV commentator on Islamic issues had spoken publicly in Egypt. Before hundreds of thousands... MORE

The new act of terror committed by suicide bombers in Dagestan on February 14 appears to have been a continuation of a series of attacks across Russia carried out by the North Caucasus armed resistance movement, which over the years has become increasingly capable of... MORE