In October of 1974, Panteleimon Ponomarenko , the former head of the Soviet Union's Central Staff for Guerrilla Movements during the Second World War, gave a lecture at a secret school in the settlement of Novoe Nagornoe in the Pushkin district, forty miles outside of... MORE

The presence of al Qaeda elements in Iran has made headlines since the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The issue of deporting or extraditing them to the United States or to their countries of citizenship has engaged several governments through diplomatic channels as well... MORE

As with all of its foreign policy issues, Iran is hedging its bets in Afghanistan. Driving Tehran's policy is its obsession with the United States and anxieties about how Washington's actions will impinge on Iran's national interests. This is all the more crucial for Iran... MORE

Russian defense industries are seeking to boost foreign sales primarily in Latin America and the Middle East, providing opportunities for Russian companies to compete with potentially expensive Western options. In Latin America the main fields of military cooperation are aviation, small arms, as well as... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the nation address, given April 25, was remarkable for one glaring omission. It was quite surprising that Putin did not say one word about Russia's "brotherly" relations with Belarus, providing only an abbreviated sketch of the whole area... MORE

While Russia wavers on a Japan-bound Pacific oil pipeline route, Tokyo is making new overtures toward Moscow. Last week, Russia and Japan pledged to work out concrete ways of cooperation in order to build the Pacific oil pipeline. According to the memorandum signed in Tokyo... MORE

As the remaining assets of the oil giant Yukos were seized last week, the fate of Russia's former leading oil company and its subsidiaries has come to symbolize the country's investment climate. The Moscow Arbitration Court agreed on April 19 to freeze the remaining key... MORE