Latest Articles about Domestic/Social

Tajik Opposition Disputes Election Results

While the outcome of Tajikistan’s parliamentary elections on February 28 were largely predictable, the opposition’s efforts to challenge its results are rather unusual. Within days of the vote, the country’s major opposition Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) announced that it would contest the election results, indirectly... MORE

Yanukovych Inaugurated: a Pseudo Kuchma Era?

Viktor Yanukovych was inaugurated as Ukraine’s new president on February 25. His first steps and statements have proved reminiscent of President Leonid Kuchma’s (1994-2004) first term. Yanukovych selected Kuchma’s former secretary as the head of his administration and demonstrated that in foreign policy he will... MORE

Yanukovych’s Election Opens Up Crimean Separatist Threat

Viktor Yanukovych’s inauguration as Ukrainian president on February 25 forced him to face the fact that the Party of Regions that he leads, has re-opened the Pandora’s Box of Crimean separatism. National Institute of Strategic Studies analyst Petro Burkovsky asked “Will President Yanukovych open up... MORE

Son of Former President of Dagestan Named to Head the Republic

Dagestan’s new president-elect, Magomedsalam Magomedov, is the son of the republic’s former leader, Magomedali Magomedov. The younger Magomedov became the head of Dagestan’s parliament after Mukhu Aliev was elected the republic’s president in 2006 (www.runewsweek.ru, February 10). It is difficult to determine if this was... MORE

Tymoshenko Refuses to Recognize Yanukovych as President

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has withdrawn her appeal from the High Administrative Court against the February 7 election runoff result. This means that nothing will prevent the election winner Viktor Yanukovych’s inauguration on February 25. However, Tymoshenko refused to admit her defeat. Moreover, she told... MORE

Belarus Targets the Union of Poles

On February 8, around midday, about twenty Belarusian police and officials from the Valozhyn district court descended on the Polish House in Ivyanets (Iweniec), 40 miles west of Minsk, ordered all personnel to leave, and then changed the locks. The Belarusian authorities claimed that the... MORE

Who Speaks for the Shi’a of Iraq?

Iraq’s Shi’a Arabs, the demographic majority with an estimated 60-70% of the population, wield the most political influence in Iraq. But the Shi’a of Iraq are a diverse group, with major regional differences between the Shi’a of Basra and the deep South and the Shi’a... MORE