

Despite its importance, Russia’s perspective on the war in Afghanistan has typically been missing from previous analyses of coalition policy. Moscow views Afghanistan largely through the prism of security threats to itself and its Central Asian neighborhood.

The Kyrgyz opposition forces have won control of the country, but if they cannot maintain their unity when the time comes to divide up governmental positions, their success may be short-lived.

The March bombings in Moscow have shown that efforts by the Kremlin to quiet the North Caucasus have only made rebel leaders more desperate and more willing to resort to terrorism to achieve their goals.

The tense relations between the Muslim world and the rest of the world remain one of the biggest problems in global politics today. Moving forward, both sides must work together to recognize the inevitability of conflict and seek avenues for peaceful mitigation.

When the Middle East Quartet meets in Moscow, they will most likely devote their time to looking for ways to influence the parties involved rather than trying to settle the actual conflict.

Magomedov, the new president of Dagestan, is a compromise figure selected to help calm the region. There is every chance that he could be a success for the Kremlin, with the apparent support of Dagestan’s parliament.

A year after his enthronement, Patriarch Kirill has re-energized the Russian Orthodox Church, shored up his own support base, and laid the foundations for a new – if politically controversial – role for the Church in state and society.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia presidential summit in Sochi is unlikely to change the situation with Karabakh, but may reignite the stagnated negotiation process. Russian involvement is key to its presence in the Caucasus.

The imminent departure of Mintimer Shaimiev as president of Tatarstan may mark the beginning of the end for the aging titans of Russian regional politics, but it will bring little if any real change to one of Russia’s most important ethnic republics.

Despite the official end of Russia’s counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya, armed clashes and terrorist attacks continue to plague North Caucasus. Open conflict is on the verge of becoming inevitable.