The term “special groups” has been used by coalition forces in Iraq since 2006 in reference to splinter groups of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi (the Mahdi Army – JaM). These groups were accused of being controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and not following the... MORE

Background Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, envisioned India to operate as an inclusive, secular democracy. Secularism was a core value in the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885, long before independence from the British Crown. Nehru’s secularist ideology, ideally, attempted to prevent... MORE

The attack perpetrated by four Chechen suicide bombers or shahids in downtown Grozny on October 19th, 2010 struck everyone by surprise. An explosion occurred early in the morning around 8:45 in the fenced yard of the Chechen parliament building killing two police officers on duty... MORE

As Azerbaijan prepares for its next parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 7, many local and international observers are noting the growing role of religion in single-mandate races. A total of 1,412 persons have attempted to register to compete for 125 seats in the highest legislative... MORE

A massive and bizarre counter-terrorist operation is underway in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria. On October 20, fighting between government forces and a group of armed insurgents broke out in the mining town of Tyrnyauz. A policeman and three rebels were killed in the clash, according... MORE

With the presidential elections in Russia scheduled for 2012, the media presence of President, Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has increasingly appeared as an image contest, as if the election campaign had already started. Yet, with the elections’ outcome widely expected to be... MORE

In early September, a Chinese fishing boat that collided with a pair of Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels near the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands reignited a longstanding dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over the East China Sea. The captain of the Chinese trawler was detained by the... MORE

The appointment of Vice-President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission (CMC) has confirmed the Fifth-Generation cadre's status as heir-apparent to President and General Secretary Hu Jintao. Xi's induction into the policy-setting CMC, which was decided by the just-ended plenum... MORE

Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, remains in full control of the political processes in his country and should be able to serve out his first term in office despite renewed street protests staged by his most bitter adversary, Levon Ter-Petrosian (who served as Armenia’s first president... MORE

A tabloid Moscow weekly reported that Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has ordered Defense Minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov’s resignation (Argumenti Nedeli, October 20). High-level sources in the Russian government are reported to have dismissed the report as “lunacy” (Interfax, October 21). The public fray reflects a serious... MORE