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

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

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

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

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

Last Sunday marked the 93rd anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, which used to be the major official holiday in the Soviet Union and remains a date about which the Russians have mixed feelings, but only 9 percent see it as a catastrophe (www.levada.ru, November 2).... MORE

The National Security Council (NSC) is an apparatus for the top executive to “formulate, coordinate and oversee security and defense policy” in order to “enhance effectiveness by developing strategies, guidance, mobilizing resources and overseeing implementation” [1]. Conceptually, the NSC in Taiwan, as in the United... MORE

Hadramawt, located in eastern Yemen, is the country's largest governorate.  While the Hadramawt is a vast province that encompasses roughly 38,000 square miles, it is thinly populated with less than a million inhabitants. Continued stability in the governorate is critical because of the vital oil... MORE

The al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) has released a statement claiming the October 31 hostage-taking at Baghdad’s Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Syriac Catholic Church was carried out in order to free two Egyptian Coptic women they allege are being held prisoner... MORE

Azerbaijan’s upcoming parliamentary elections on November 7 are unlikely to change the distribution of power within the country. As with the previous election to the highest legislative body in 2005, this time pundits are observing a divided opposition, confident ruling party and dozens of independents,... MORE