Carnegie Moscow Center
The world can be an awfully dangerous and unpredictable place.
The radical jihadi group known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A little bit more than twenty years after it first appeared, this on-going transformation has made it less connected to Uzbekistan, and more to a global jihad.
The story in Iraq, which has seemed to be all about religion and military developments, is actually mostly about politics: access to government revenue and services, a say in decision-making, and a modicum of social justice.
With the conflict reaching Iraq, which reflects to the same religious divisions as in Azerbaijan, the risk is greater that Azerbaijanis Shia and Sunnites will be affected by the sectarianism of the Middle East.
In 2013 Russia’s foreign policy has finally assumed a new quality, something which will probably last. This foreign policy makes Russia much more of an international player than ever before in the last quarter-century.
Vladimir Putin’s respectful message on the passing of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proves that to quite a few Russian supporters of a strong state, Israel is the ideal in terms of the cohesion existing between the state and the nation, the effectiveness of and coordination among the military, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, and defense of its interests.