Carnegie Moscow Center
Georgia’s government should take a transitional justice approach to crimes allegedly committed under Saakashvili’s rule and form a truth commission to examine controversial cases.
Federal control over Dagestan is becoming even weaker, and federal authorities appear unable to turn the tide.
Through the recent parliamentary elections and pending peaceful transfer of power, Georgia has made several important strides toward establishing democracy and rule of law.
Despite widespread fears of a deadlocked, disputed election and protests on the streets, Georgia is—so far—on the path toward a surprisingly orderly transfer of power following the recent parliamentary elections.
Georgia's legislative election has brought something unprecedented to most of the post-Soviet republics: political change through the ballot box.
The Georgian electorate is torn between frustration with President Saakashvili and suspicion of the opposition's leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Georgia’s parliamentary election on October 1 will be its most important since the disputed polls of 2003 and is being closely watched abroad, where it is being seen as a test of how Georgia can manage a competitive election process.
While Russian military reform, aimed at creating a modern military institution, has proven relatively successful, the Putin leadership’s strategic thinking remains outdated.
Inter-religious and interethnic relations are rapidly deteriorating in Russia, but the authorities lack the programs to cope with them, the mechanisms to create new programs, and the realization that both are urgently needed.
Politicization and internal disengagement have increased tension within both Russian Orthodoxy and Islam in Russia, and secular and religious authorities are consciously facilitating these societal divisions in an effort to strengthen their positions.