Statistics on insurgency-related violence in the North Caucasus in February show that most of the violence was concentrated in the republics of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. Kavkazsky Uzel reported this week that 59 people were killed as a result of insurgency-related violence in the North Caucasus... MORE

Beijing’s efforts to uphold socio-political stability—and to crush a potential Chinese-style “Jasmine Revolution”—have dominated this year’s plenary session of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The Chinese parliament has approved a budget for wei-wen, an omnibus term that encompasses maintaining law and order, squashing dissent and... MORE

Beyond the battle for the towns and cities of Libya, there is another battle raging over the legacy of Sidi Omar al-Mukhtar, Libya’s “Lion of the Desert.” The symbol of Libyan nationalism and pride, the inheritance of this stalwart of the Islamic and anti-colonial struggle... MORE

As calls intensify for the resignation of Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen’s president of 32 years, the immediate impact of the political unrest on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains unclear. Thus far, the turbulence appears to have had minimal impact on the group ideologically,... MORE

The ruling coalition will collapse before Kyrgyzstan’s President, Roza Otunbayeva, returns from her two-day trip to Washington, a member of the opposition Ata-Meken party told Jamestown recently. The current coalition consisting of Ata-Jurt, the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), and Respublika parties has remained... MORE

As anti-government protesters, whose numbers continue to swell, call for an escalation of demonstrations, Yemeni President Salih reiterated his intention to stay in office until the presidential election in 2013. The Salih government rejected the most recent five point plan put forward by the Joint... MORE

Armenia’s President Serzh Sarksyan has warded off potential challenges from his predecessor Robert Kocharian but is now facing mounting street protests organized by another former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian. Buoyed by the ongoing wave of anti-government uprisings in the Arab world, Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK)... MORE

It is clear that problems with democracy and slow reforms in Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych have not prevented the European Union from developing closer ties with Kyiv. German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, and EU chief free trade negotiator, Philippe Cuisson, confirmed recently that the... MORE

On March 4, Russia’s security services reported they managed to kill one of the leaders of Ingushetia’s insurgency, 30 year old Khamzat Korigov. Initially, the government sources said Korigov had detonated a bomb when the security agents surrounded him in Ingushetia’s principal town, Nazran. Later,... MORE

Objective Sirte: Gains and Setbacks Among Libya's Rebel Forces