BRAIN DRAIN IN ARMENIA
As many as a million Armenians - almost a quarter of the population - have left the country in recent years, most simply to seek employment.
As many as a million Armenians - almost a quarter of the population - have left the country in recent years, most simply to seek employment.
Pork barrel politics in the isolated the North Caucausian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria is fermenting serious opposition to the government as well as unrest among the ethnic groups.
Armenia needs to resolve its regional problems and build a Caucasus-wide security system or it will be forced to make the difficult choice between local alliance with the United States - or with Russia.
Calls by senior figures in the powerful Union of Karabakh Volunteers for Armenian President Robert Kocharian to resign have intensified speculation that the Armenian military are pursuing a more active role in Armenian politics.
The Chechen government's efforts to communicate with Moscow - or indeed the West - are rebuffed. Negotiators are sidelined. And pleas for safe passage for the terrified civilians of Grozny are ignored.
Russia's new military campaign in the North Caucasus is marked not only by a new military strategy but also by a changed attitude to the Russian army's activity in Chechnya.
Relations between Russia and Georgia are more strained than ever following Georgia's signature on key agreements at the OSCE summit which underline a shifting alignment towards Europe and the United States.
In stark contrast to 1994-1996, even the state media in Georgia is heaping criticism on Russia for the campaign in Chechnya.
With international attention focused on Chechnya, it would be easy to overlook some key pronouncements concerning Armenia which took place in Istanbul.
Is the Commonwealth of Independent States at an end? With Russia's recent introduction of visa requirements for travellers to and from Georgia and Azerbaijan, the future for the CIS looks bleak.