As Moscow’s mayor since 1992, one of founders of the ruling United Russia party and one of its collective co-leaders, Yuri Luzhkov, 73, has become the target of furious public attacks by the state-controlled Russian TV channels. In a broadside that began last week on... MORE

The Party of Regions, according to an extensive analysis in Ukrayinska Pravda (August 30), is seeking to obtain a majority in local councils in the October local elections. If the Party of Regions secures a majority in the area between the Don (the Russian-Ukrainian border)... MORE

Two high-profile international events occurred in Russia last week: on Monday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, held a traditional meeting with the Valdai club; and on Friday, President Dmitry Medvedev participated in the Yaroslavl forum, which is designed to become a new tradition. Some Western participants... MORE

Recent political developments in Pakistan seem to have put a military operation in North Waziristan on the backburner once more. If current political trends continue, the much awaited military operation in the region may not start for a long time, if ever.  The recent floods,... MORE

On September 3, the Ukrainian government presented a tax reform which should make the country more attractive to foreign investors and promote economic reform. Prime Minister, Mykola Azarov, stated that Ukrainian taxes would “probably be the lowest in Europe” (UT1, September 3). Several of the... MORE

Moldova’s constitutional referendum, held on September 5, has failed due to lacking a quorum, with only 29 percent voter turnout (Moldpres, September 6). The failure has triggered a full-blown crisis of legitimacy for the political system in general and the governing authorities in particular. The... MORE

There is mounting evidence that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has returned to tactics targeting the opposition last employed under President, Leonid Kuchma. It should be borne in mind that these tactics were never entirely abandoned. The SBU’s domestic political role has remained because... MORE

The crash of Moldova’s experiment with a parliamentary system of government (EDM, August 6), predictable though it was, could not have occurred at a worse time for the country. When this experiment had first collapsed in 2000, Moldova still had a margin for error at... MORE

The recent Supreme Military Council (YAS) meeting served as an additional showdown between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the country’s military leadership. When the four-day long YAS meeting ended on August 4, it failed to fill key posts, raising questions about the future... MORE

On August 10, members of NGO’s, rights activists, journalists and friends of Zarema Sadullaeva and Alik Dzhabrailov gathered for a small ceremony of remembrance in Grozny. Unidentified law enforcement members led Sadullaeva and Dzhabrailov out of their office in Grozny on August 10, 2009. The... MORE