By Pavel K. Baev (2/9/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: For most of its history, the OSCE was Moscow’s favorite among European organizations, praised by Gorbachev as a key structure of his ‘all-European house’ and portrayed by Yeltsin as an alternative to NATO enlargement. Russia’s most cherished idea about this all-inclusive body has always been to create a top executive body shaped after the UN Security Council, with a few permanent members and veto rights. The majority of member-states, however, see no good reason for granting Russia such privileged status, so Moscow by the late 1990s had practically lost interest in the OSCE’s activities.

By Erin Mark (1/26/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: The most recent war in Chechnya, though launched as a counter-terrorism operation, has done little to reduce the threat of violence. Conversely, it has spurred increasingly violent attacks and widened the chaotic space in which radicals can recruit and operate. Beslan was the most brutal illustration of this while simultaneously provoking an exception to the rule of ongoing international neglect of Chechnya.

By Stephen Blank (1/26/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: The most important factor in Armenian politics is the continuing primacy of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. While annexation of this territory commands mass support, it should be clear to more dispassionate observers that Armenia can only sustain this policy at the cost of its economic future and independence. These costs make their presence felt in several ways.