If there is one factor to be singled out which influenced Russia in 2010, it is undoubtedly the role of the Internet in social and political life. In Russia, the worldwide web has become a platform for sharp political and social discussions, a single important... MORE

The modernization of the Russian armed forces, as currently planned for the next decade, appears to squeeze resources for re-equipping the Ground Forces.  An article in the defense ministry’s official publication, Krasnaya Zvezda, unsurprisingly confirmed that modernizing the strategic nuclear arsenal will take the lions’... MORE

Moldova’s Alliance for European Integration (AEI) has won a new, and potentially longer, lease on life, after 16 months of insecure governance (EDM, January 7). Its post-election government is due to be installed on January 14. The AEI’s success, however hard-won, shows the European Union’s... MORE

In the first week of the New Year Russia started winding down on the vacation period, but Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, was not shown on any ski slopes and remained in charge of urgent problems. Putin controlled the rescue operation in the Sea of Okhotsk... MORE

Moldova illustrates the risks of introducing a parliamentary system of government prematurely, ahead of state consolidation, institution building, or even genuine party building. Inverting that sequence can disorganize and destabilize the state itself, then return authoritarians to power. Ukraine, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan have each alternated... MORE

Moldova can finally regain political stability after two years of constitutional crisis, incessant parliamentary and presidential elections, unstable governance, and institutional vacancies. Following the November 28, 2010 parliamentary elections (EDM, November 29), the new parliament convened on December 28 and reconstituted the Alliance for European... MORE

“The tribes are Yemen and Yemen is the tribes,” is a saying that is often repeated by Yemenis from the north central highlands where the tribe and tribal life are most dominant. [1] In the wake of the “underwear bomber” and the “toner bombs,” Yemen... MORE

Disgruntled al-Shabaab fighters are increasingly deserting the radical Islamist group after years of fighting for the movement in southern Somalia. The deserters are mainly from southern Somalia’s Hawiye clan, while the movement’s current leader, Shaykh Ahmad Abdi Godane “Abu Zubayr,” hails from the Isaaq clan... MORE

2010 turned out to be more difficult for Russia than the previous year in terms of its problems in the North Caucasus. Nearly all top Russian officials, including Russia’s president, the head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Interior Minister,... MORE

The end of voting in the presidential election on December 19 was followed by a large demonstration in October Square, which eventually moved to Independence Square. There followed a violent attack by riot police that left numerous people hospitalized, seven of the nine presidential candidates... MORE