Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Russia’s Fourth Front: Central Asia
Russian leaders have long held a deeply pessimistic view about Afghanistan’s future prospects as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) strategy there (Mil.ru, December 10, 2014). Indeed, late last year, Russian and Central Asian officials raised the possibility of reinforcing Russian army units on the...
Russia’s Gazprom Seems Set to Return to Georgia
For the last several weeks, political life in Tbilisi has been largely dominated by ongoing negotiations between the governments of Russia and Georgia regarding Russian natural gas giant Gazprom’s large-scale return to the Georgian market. The news of these negotiations first broke on September 26, when Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and...
Israeli Analyst Calls on Ukraine to Facilitate Peaceful Transition in the North Caucasus
Israeli analyst Avraam Shmulevich has urged Ukrainian authorities to take a more pro-active approach to the situation in Russia. Shmulevich visited Ukraine to consult the newly created inter-party parliamentary group “Za Vilniy Kavkaz” (For a Free Caucasus). In an interview with a Ukrainian news agency, Shmulevich said Ukraine should pay...
New Russian Book Says Only Ideological Approach Can Defeat Islamic State
A new 226-page book written by a group of scholars widely reputed to be close to the Russian security services argues that Islamic State (IS) is, first and foremost, an ideological phenomenon. As such, this militant group can only be contained and then defeated on the territory of the Russian Federation by the articulation and mobilization of a...
Russian Memories of Soviet-Afghanistan Conflict Cloud Syria Operation
More than 25 years after the Soviet Army withdrew from Afghanistan, Russia is engaged in an out-of-area operation beyond its frontiers. The Kremlin’s message alleges the air campaign is restricted to combatting the Islamic State in Syria though most of the sorties carry out strikes on the rebel opposition. However, the Kremlin has been...
Russian Mercenaries Sign up for Combat Operations in Syria
On October 11, in an interview with Russia’s Rossiya 1TV channel, President Vladimir Putin reassured his audience that he did not intend to send Russian ground troops to Syria. The interviewer asked Putin about it twice, and twice the Russian president denied such plans. “Are you considering the possibility of using the Russian armed forces...
Putin’s Desperation Deepens as His Blunders Accumulate
Russian foreign policy took an unexpected turn and suffered a serious setback last week when President Vladimir Putin suggested sending to Washington a delegation headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which was firmly turned down by the United States government. The initiative was poorly prepared, and the fruits of Putin’s recent...
The Multi-Faceted Reality of Italian Foreign Fighters in Ukraine
The clumsy attempt, in mid-September, of an Italian man to allegedly join pro-Russia separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, reignited the issue of Western “volunteers” fighting in this worn-torn country. The would-be Italian combatant for the self-styled separatist “people republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk was arrested by...
The Political Situation in Ukraine on Eve of Nation-Wide Local Elections
Ukraine is nearing its third nation-wide election campaign since the fall of Viktor Yanukovych’s kleptocratic regime early last year. The ballot marathon commenced with presidential and parliamentary votes in 2014, and is now being followed by local elections, slated for October 25, 2015 (Kyiv Post, October 14). Many observers, analysts and...
Two Disparate Newsmakers Push Belarus to Forefront of International Attention
Two notable pieces of news related to Belarus broke in recent days: the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Svetlana Alexievich, on October 8, and Alyaksandr Lukashenka was reelected president of Belarus, on October 11. It is debatable which of these news items actually holds more profound implications for the country. In terms of governance...
