"I'm leaving my political party and opt for political silence," declared the new chairman of the Georgian Supreme Court, Kote Kemularia, after his strong parliamentary confirmation on June 24 (Dilis Gazeti, June 25). Before becoming the third chairman of the Georgian Supreme Court in the... MORE

Since Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev made an official visit to China in May, the number of exchanges between the two countries has increased remarkably. Never have bilateral relations been so close and so warm. On June 17, just a few days after his official visit... MORE

NATO's summit in Istanbul on June 26-29 failed to outline a vision for eastward enlargement and stopped short of acknowledging the membership aspirations of the alliance's new neighbors in the Black Sea-South Caucasus region. For the first time since the 1997 Madrid summit, NATO at... MORE

Russian media on June 28 reported that Magomed Evloev, an ethnic Ingush whom federal authorities claim led the June 21-22 attacks in Ingushetia, was killed during a special operation in the village of Dalakovo, near Nazran. Ren TV on June 28 aired footage of what... MORE

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Interfax news agency on June 29 that Russia "does not have any intention of helping Iraq set up its army." Lavrov was speaking in Istanbul following the NATO-Russia Council meeting that took place on the sidelines of the NATO... MORE

President Hamid Karzai's recent visit to the United States highlighted recent progress toward reconstructing Afghanistan. On the economic front, the U.S. State Department's Bureau of South Asian Affairs noted on June 15 that Afghanistan's "legal" economy grew at a rate of almost 30% in 2002... MORE

According to the Russian Statistical Yearbook for 2000, Russia's permanent population (i.e. citizens plus legal residents from other CIS republics) decreased from 147 million people at the end of 1988 to 145.6 million at the end of 1999. During the same period, the number of... MORE

An extreme nationalist group has claimed responsibility for the murder of St. Petersburg ethnologist Nikolai Girenko. On June 19, the 64-year-old expert on ethnic and racial issues, who has provided expert testimony for prosecutors in cases involving racially motivated attacks, was shot through the door... MORE

A November 2003 document prepared by Russian "political technologists" working for Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the Presidential Administration, has been leaked to Ukrayinska Pravda (June 25). The report outlines how President Leonid Kuchma could win a third term by discrediting his main opponent as a... MORE

Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently issued an official statement praising Uzbekistan's decision to de-mine the border between the two countries. According to the statement, Uzbekistan's action will "contribute to the strengthening of traditionally friendly and mutually beneficial relations in the Central Asian region" (RIA... MORE