The question that has obsessed Moscow for so long has been answered: Vladimir Putin is to replace Dmitry Medvedev as president next spring, returning to the post he gave up four years ago. READ MORE

India may not have got the airbase it planned in Tajikistan. But hospital and research initiatives offer a chance of influence – without upsetting Russia. READ MORE

High tensions reached a new level at the Kosovo-Serbia border after Serbian authorities refused to allow three trucks carrying cement from Kosovo to enter Serbia despite the reopening of one of the two contentious border crossings. READ MORE

October 30, 2011 presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan have drawn over 80 candidates into much anticipated race that has been a subject of political debate in and around the country for quite some time in the republic. Aside from a several dozen of "wannabe" candidates only a few bare chances of getting through the process of a real deal campaigning nationwide. But regional experts and analysts including a number of domestic political figures say there is a likelihood of drastic change towards authoritarian model of the state rather than parliamentarian republic that came after coup in April 2010. What makes situation in Kyrgyzstan unique is that this is the only country in Central Asia with a record of trying to establish a multi vector political system in the region where such form of statehood is not welcome. READ MORE