New nation states frequently need to create a ‘national myth’ to justify their new status, and Kyrgyzstan is no exception. Since its emergence as an independent republic in 1991, historians have been drawing on Chinese and Russian historical sources in an attempt to trace Kyrgyz history back to an
Reforms to public health systems are always dictated by the need to cut costs. Russia is no exception, but the results are proving catastrophic. Access to state treatment is ever more limited and often unaffordable private health services are the only way of getting better or staying alive. Roman
Like many other Russian cities, Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, has seen public protests since December’s rigged parliamentary elections. A particularly striking feature is the youth of many of the protesters and their range of concerns. What they most seem to fear, however, is a government clampdown
Sergei Udaltsov, leader of Russia’s ‘Left Front’ movement, had barely been heard of before the recent elections, but his emotional speeches, hunger strike, imprisonment, not to mention an incident in a frozen fountain, have since turned him into a hero. Ilya Azar met Udaltsov in a Moscow coffee sh
Very many people inside (and outside) Russia would like to see a change in the current way the country is governed. The protest movements that were formed after the recent elections made this appear a real possibility, but that was then. What now? Vladimir Zvonovsky considers four scenarios.
A month ago today, more than twenty people joined ex-candidate Oleg Shein in a hunger strike against disputed mayoral elections in the regional capital city of Astrakhan, south Russia. As the health of those still protesting continues to decline, Svetlana Reiter spoke to two of the strikers to dis
In the second of his analytical articles, Dmitri Travin gives further consideration to Russia’s way forward under its new (or not so new) president, Vladimir Putin. Will he insist on keeping to his hard line or might he take the ‘soft’ option? That too is fraught with potential risk.
The brutal rape and murder of Oksana Makar, apparently committed by well-connected children, has forced Ukrainians to reflect on power, elite privilege and impunity, writes Mykola Riabchuk
The gruesome murder of Oksana Makar has sent shockwaves around Ukraine, with supporters of the death penalty calling for its reinstatement, and a public outcry that has brought the case to national and global attention. Aleksey Matsuka discusses the implications of Oksana Makar’s death and what it
Many Ukraine observers have identified the far-right Svoboda party as the key source of racial conflict in the country. This represents a misunderstanding of Ukraine’s fake politics, its divisive president and the real far-right thugs of the Party of Regions, argues Taras Kuzio.
While international attention on Iran focuses on the country's nuclear programme and anti-western rhetoric, few have noticed the country's constructive attempts to develop a sphere of influence in its fellow Persian-speaking Tajikistan. But as western states ramp up sanctions against Iran, will th
