On April 30, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili assertively declared that Georgia should make firm steps in order to obtain a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Membership Action Plan (MAP) already next year (www.civil.ge, May 1). Historically, MAP has represented the last step for a... MORE

Following the creation in June 2009 of the rapid reaction forces to enhance the military capabilities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Uzbekistan’s departure from the body in 2012 and the prospect of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) drawdown in Afghanistan, Moscow is... MORE

In recent weeks, clashes between government troops and Taliban fighters have shifted to Faryab Province of Afghanistan near the border with Turkmenistan. In the wake of the violence, thousands have fled their homes and more than 60 militants were killed. According to Kyrgyzstan’s Defense Council... MORE

On April 27, Russia’s Federation Council approved a military basing agreement between Tajikistan and Russia (Ozodi, April 30). The agreement signed last October extended the lease on Russia’s bases in Tajikistan, home to the 201st Motorized Rifle Brigade, until 2042 (see EDM October 10, 2012).... MORE

The tragedy in Boston reminded the world about the simmering conflict in the North Caucasus, which has not been resolved because the West largely ignored the region. The outside world pretended Russia’s claims that the North Caucasus had turned almost into a paradise that could... MORE

Why did Tamerlan Tsarnaev—one of the alleged April 15 Boston Marathon bombers who died in a shoot-out with police on April 18—not demand an end to the bloodshed in Dagestan, but was instead interested in what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq? The casualties in Dagestan... MORE

On April 23, following his trip to Minsk, Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu revealed that Russia plans to create its own military airbase on Belarusian soil near the city of Baranovichi, with the first set of Russian fighter jets due to arrive there later... MORE

Emil Pain, the well-known Russian expert on ethnic conflict and former Russian government official, has warned that the conflict in the North Caucasus is escalating. According to the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website, the number of casualties in the North Caucasus dropped to 199 in... MORE

Despite the contraction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—marked by the collective agreement at its summit in Moscow in December 2012 to interpret Tashkent’s membership “suspension” as a withdrawal—the Kremlin is intensifying its efforts to transform the body ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty... MORE

On April 27, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta published an article on the dead Boston bomber suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, based on information it received from the Russian security services. It cited officers of the Dagestani Center for Combating Extremism who said they became aware of... MORE