By Richard Weitz (4/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Revelations in January 2007 about the details of a recent smuggling incident in the Republic of Georgia have intensified concerns about the security of nuclear materials in the South Caucasus. Although the initial effect of the case has been to sharpen tensions between Russia and Georgia, over the long-term it could result in enhanced nonproliferation cooperation in the region. Indeed, the only two seizures of Highly Enriched Uranium in recent years have taken place in Georgia, indicating the need for greater involvement by the international community in countering WMD smuggling in the South Caucasus.

By Kevin Daniel Leahy (3/21/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: The dangers of military service in Russia were highlighted last year by a high-profile case involving one Andrei Sychev, a private in the Russian army who had to have both his legs amputated following a particularly brutal assault by other servicemen. The Sychev case clearly illustrated that ethnicity alone does not determine who shall bully and who shall be bullied; but it is clear that the Russian army has a long-standing reputation as a particularly inhospitable environment for ethnic minorities. Hence minority groups within the Russian Federation are naturally especially apprehensive about military service.

By Dmitry Shlapentokh (3/21/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: Most of the Left’s agenda in the modern West – racial and ethnic equality, ecology, women’s rights, etc. – has fallen on deaf ears in post-Soviet Russia. Even those who describe themselves as Leftist radicals pay little if any attention to the rights of workers, the hallmark of the traditional Left.