On the 16th of December 2011 in the town of Zhanaozen in Mangystau province during the celebration of the Independence day of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Central square a group of former (previously fired) workers of the «OzenMunaiGaz» oil producing enterprise with the support of the hooligan youngsters started mass insurgencies leading to debacles, looting, setting fire and violence against civilians and police officers. READ MORE

With the possibility of a clash between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program looming on the horizon, one cannot help but wonder: Is it worth it for Iran, now grappling with increasingly onerous sanctions, to continue its pursuit of a nuclear capacity, albeit an ambiguous one? READ MORE

For the tenth time during his presidency, Dmitry Medvedev met with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle the frozen conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The meeting, which took place yesterday in Sochi, once again failed to secure a breakthrough in the negotiations. As Russia turns inward to focus on recent political protests and Medvedev plans a speedy exit from the limelight, there is still no end in sight to what he has called possibly the only conflict in the post-Soviet space that can be settled today. READ MORE

Following the NATO-Russia Council meeting with Military Representatives, Army General Nikolay E. Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, awarded Lieutenant General Jürgen Bornemann, Director General of the International Military Staff (IMS), Colonel Karl Hanevik, Chief of the Special Partnership Branch of the IMS Cooperation & Regional Security Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Van den Broeck, Staff Officer of the same Division, with the medal of the Russian Ministry of Defence "For the Strengthening of Combat Cooperation". READ MORE

Early Parliamentary elections took place in Kazakhstan. Beforehand the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev underlined that “the elections to Majilis are to become a new step of democratization of Kazakh society and our political system”. And already now we can positively declare that this stage has come. READ MORE

Police in Azerbaijan have foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador and other prominent Jews in apparent revenge for the killing of nuclear scientists in Tehran, officials in the former Soviet state claimed. READ MORE