On December 11, the largest ever Russian nationalist riots in modern Russia broke out in Moscow. The protesters, consisting of about 5,000 soccer fans and members of several Russian nationalist organizations, gathered at Manezh Square, which is adjacent to the Kremlin and Red Square. They... MORE

Despite the statements from the NATO Lisbon summit about partnership with Russia, it did not take long for Moscow to demonstrate why partnership with it is so difficult, as well as revealing why there is little East-West trust. On November 30, RIA Novosti rebuffed a... MORE

On December 11 in Ashgabat, the top officials of four participant countries signed agreements on a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, favored on and off (currently on again) by the US government. Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai, and Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari,... MORE

On December 10, the official responsible for the military draft in North Ossetia, Colonel Yuri Morozov, stated that the 2010 fall campaign to conscript youth for service in the Russian army was in danger of failing. According to Morozov, only 200 out of the 2,300... MORE

Turkey’s recent humanitarian aid to Israel renewed the debate on how to normalize Turkish-Israeli relations, which have been in limbo since the flotilla incident in May 2010. Turkey has argued that Israel should acknowledge full responsibility for its raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla, which... MORE

Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General, Ivan Sydoruk, said on December 8 that the number of terrorist acts committed in the North Caucasus Federal District rose 100 percent in comparison to last year. According to Sydoruk, 14 terrorist acts have been carried out in the district this year.... MORE

Speaking in the regional capital of Pyatigorsk on November 18, Russian Interior Minister, Rashid Nurgaliev, put Kabardino-Balkaria next to Dagestan and Ingushetia as the most dangerous places in the North Caucasus in terms of the terrorist threat (https://www.caucasustimes.com/article.asp?id=20543). Up until last year, the republic of... MORE

Russia has been long working to build an independent GPS (GLObal’'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema –GLONASS) system.  Yet, on December 5, the program received a blow as 3 new GLONASS-M satellites plunged into the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands after a... MORE

The risk-fraught prospect of Western arms sales to Russia was not an agenda item at NATO’s annual summit, just held in Lisbon. Although such sales, on top of Russia’s own rearmament programs, can increase Russian military capabilities on NATO’s eastern borders, the Alliance avoids dealing... MORE

Debate on the implications of military sales to Russia is stifled in NATO. The proposed sale of French Mistral-class warships to Russia is by far the largest among possible Russian procurements under discussion. Non-member country Georgia has taken the lead in airing concerns over the... MORE