German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her French counterpart, Francois Hollande, have been leading intense diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis Ukraine. Yet, as Russian media reported, the Merkel-Hollande summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 6, in Moscow, following their trip to meet President... MORE

It has been a little over 100 days since Imangali Tasmagambetov’s appointment as the new defense minister of Kazakhstan last October. Born in the oil-rich Mangistau province, in the country’s west, the 58-year-old minister has had a particularly impressive career in politics. He first made... MORE

In view of the most recent escalation of the military conflict in its eastern regions, Ukraine has launched a nation-wide mobilization campaign meant to boost the number of the country’s military personnel by 100,000 to a total of 250,000. To be deployed in three waves,... MORE

Ramzan Kadyrov has warned that Chechen forces may be deployed in other regions of Russia to fight terrorism and extremism. “If there are such indications [of terrorism and extremism] in Moscow or other regions of the country, we will be at the forefront to fight... MORE

On January 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Commission for Military Technology Cooperation with Foreign States. Putin opened his remarks by stating that he wanted “to begin with a look back at the work done last year” and then told attendees,... MORE

The week of February 2 registered an explosion in political intrigue around the war in eastern Ukraine, and some sort of pause in hostilities is likely to ensue. Undoubtedly, this is a positive development, but it would be an overstatement to describe the late-night talks... MORE

Perhaps in no other modern-day country, with the exception of Israel, have Jews historically made up a larger percentage of the overall population as in Belarus. For example, in 1897, Jews comprised 14.2 percent of the residents of Belarusian territory; and in Grodno and Minsk... MORE

The death of one of the most famous Ichkerian generals from the two wars in Chechnya, Isa Munaev on February 1, again drew public attention to the involvement of Chechens in the conflict in eastern Ukraine (Echo.msk.ru, February 2). Munaev arrived in Ukraine and led... MORE

In early January 2015, many foreign and domestic observers of Nigeria focused on whether Boko Haram would ramp up its attacks to disrupt the February 14, 2015 Nigerian presidential elections, between incumbent Goodluck Jonathan (often characterized as the “southern Christian” candidate) and Muhammad Buhari (the... MORE