From June 29 to July 6, the Russian military staged massive Kavkaz 2009 exercises involving air force, army and naval units. During Kavkaz-2009, forces were deployed on Georgia's borders and in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The official aim of Kavkaz 2009... MORE

Delegations led by the Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay, Iraqi Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili and U.S. Major-General Steven A. Hummer, the deputy chief of staff for operations in Iraq's multinational force met in Ankara for trilateral talks to discuss how to... MORE

Prospects for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict look more uncertain following the latest round of negotiations between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Contrary to the international community's expectations, Presidents Serzh Sarksyan and Ilham Aliyev appear to have failed to clear the remaining hurdles... MORE

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has arrested former Police General Oleksy Pukach, a key suspect in the murder of investigative journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000. It is believed that Pukach was the main link between the policemen who killed Gongadze - they received long... MORE

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine (EDM, July 28) underscored the shift from enthusiastic support of Euro-Atlantic integration goals to conditional support, depending on Ukraine's own performance. Dubbed "tough love," this revision in U.S. policy was long in the making, but had not received... MORE

Speculation has recently mounted that Bishkek will agree to a request from Moscow to open a new Russian military base in southern Kyrgyzstan. On July 21 the Kyrgyz ambassador to Kazakhstan, Dzhanysh Rustenbekov, said the decision might be taken at the informal Collective Security Treaty... MORE

Almost a month and a half after the assassination of Dagestan's Interior Minister Police General Adilgerei Magomedtagirov on June 5, the federal government finally chose his replacement. The new minister is Federal Security Service (FSB) Colonel Ali Magomedov, a close associate of Dagestan's President Mukhu... MORE

On July 26 President Dmitry Medvedev focused on foreign policy in his carefully staged interview for the NTV channel and duly praised his own successes in improving Russia's image as a "strong and modern country, pragmatic and restrained." He asserted that Russia "plays a decisive... MORE

The release of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Amir of Jama'at-ud-Da'wa (JuD), from detention last month in Pakistan has raised eyebrows in the West as well as India. He was released from house arrest on June 2 when the Lahore High... MORE

Commenting on the recent controversial contacts between American diplomats and Iraqi Sunni insurgents in Turkey, Turkish government sources have confirmed that Ankara facilitated high-level talks, and maintains that the government in Baghdad was kept informed of these developments (Taraf, July 26). This highlights the Justice... MORE