Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Kurmanbek_Bakiyev.jpg)
Bakiyev Faces Mass Murder Charges
On November 17, a controversial trial began in Bishkek over the ousted former Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and 28 members of his regime. Former defense minister Baktybek Kalyev is among the defendants. Bakiyev, however, along with six other defendants, is being tried in absentia (www.akipress.kg,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NC_bombing__EDM_November_17__2010.jpg)
Moscow’s Approach to the North Caucasus Looks Increasingly Deluded
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev had to admit recently that 454 terrorist acts and 510 offenses of extremist nature were committed in Russia in the first nine months of 2010. It would have been odd if the minister had blamed the Russian authorities for the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Oleg_Kashin__EDM_November_17__2010.jpg)
Freedom of the Russian Press: a Story of Lost Trust
The recent attack on the Russian journalist and blogger Oleg Kashin left him severely injured. While he was still unconscious in a medically induced coma, an avalanche of speculation surrounded who might be responsible, with the so-called “liberal opposition” groups quarrelling with each other over... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Russian_Officers__EDM_November_16__2010.jpg)
Rewarding Merit in the Russian Officer Corps
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Russian defense reform initiated in October of 2008 was its aim to transform the Russian officer corps. Many reform critics and analysts focused upon the planned downsizing of the corps to 150,000 serving officers. However, downsizing alone does... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/sverdlovsk-region-nature__EDM_November_16th__2010.jpg)
Kremlin Plan for Resettling Unemployed Ingush in Sverdlovsk Falters
Ingush settlers who come to Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, located in the Ural mountains, in search of work have found little employment and government support. “From the very beginning, this widely advertised [Ingush resettlement] program was doomed to failure,” the former representative of Ingushetia in Sverdlovsk... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Russian_Census_Worker___Reuters__EDM_November_15th__2010.jpg)
2010 Census Data is Adjusted to Meet Kremlin Priorities in the North Caucasus
On November 9, the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website reported the Russian statistical service’s intention to double check the October 2010 census results for Chechnya and Ingushetia. The process will take place hundreds of miles away in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and is projected... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Densus-88.jpg)
New Directions for Indonesian Militants after Successful Counterterrorist Operations
Since a terrorist training camp was discovered in the northwestern Indonesian province of Aceh last February, Indonesia’s Densus-88 counterterrorism police have arrested over 100 people and killed 13, significantly damaging the efforts of Indonesian militants to regroup and stage a new round of attacks. Significantly,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Oleg_Kashin__RIA_Novosti__EDM_November_11__2010.jpg)
Another Russian Journalist Attacked with Impunity
Last week a Kommersant reporter, Oleg Kashin (30), was attacked and severely beaten by two men near his rented apartment in the center of Moscow. The attack was filmed by surveillance cameras: Kashin was beaten with an iron bar disguised in a bouquet of flowers.... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Medvedev_Putin__EDM_September_13__2010_03.jpg)
Medvedev’s “Modernization” of Russia: Forward to the Past
In the image contest between the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, in anticipation of the 2012 presidential elections, Medvedev appears as a tech-savvy proponent of innovative projects (EDM, October 25). However, he is hardly innovative in his choice of the means... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Elections_in_Belarus__EDM_November_8__2010.jpg)
Belarusians Want Changes: But How Badly?
There are several indications that the relatively passive Belarusian population favors fundamental changes in political and economic life. Some activists, such as presidential candidate, Andrei Sannikau, perceive a groundswell of popular sentiment that could sweep away the Lukashenka leadership in the presidential elections to be... MORE