Political analysts say Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev handled the wildfire emergency poorly. Timberland, villages, and a naval base were destroyed as officials in Moscow initially failed to act and their local subordinates were reluctant to take charge, says Nikolai Petrov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “All decisions are made and all commands are issued at the top, so everyone was waiting for orders from the Prime Minister.”

// Sep. 03, 2010 - 06:24 GMT

Local political experts in Azerbaijan say the current visit of the Russian president is also aimed at soothing the effect of the recent Russian-Armenian military agreement. The Armenian interpretation of its agreement with Russia was that Russia guaranteed to protect Armenia and the Armenian occupied territories in Garabagh if Azerbaijan opted for a military solution of the problem.

// Sep. 03, 2010 - 06:22 GMT

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin announced Thursday that Russiaâ™s ban on grain exports, which was adopted last month after a severe drought and heat wave depressed the harvest, would be extended well into next year because of continued uncertainty over production. </p>

// Sep. 03, 2010 - 06:20 GMT

Let us just examine, for the sake of argument, the benefits of Russia regaining former territories in the Baltics. From an economic standpoint, the ports and industry would be a large gain, an expansion of Kaliningrad so to speak, bringing the Russian border into wider contact with the European Union as well.

// Sep. 02, 2010 - 07:40 GMT

With so many of their media sources controlled by the state or government-friendly oligarchs, Russians have turned to their bloggers to keep informed and give voice to their grievances and concerns. But many of those in power are now seeking to impose rigid limits on online freedom.

// Sep. 02, 2010 - 07:37 GMT

The conventional image of Russia is a country of a few super-rich oil barons and over a hundred million paupers. However, despite having more billionaires than any other country, Russia has seen inequality fall during the last decade of strong economic growth: not only is the gap between Russia's rich and poor the smallest of all the four “Bric” countries, incomes are more evenly distributed than in the US.

// Sep. 02, 2010 - 07:33 GMT

Put aside serious political issues like the disputed northern territories off Hokkaido for now. The Japanese Embassy in Russia has published the first issue of a Russian-language magazine featuring Japanese pop culture, hoping to broaden pro-Japanese sentiment in the country.

// Sep. 01, 2010 - 05:38 GMT

Taking a look at the map of the Arctic Circle it becomes evident Russia controls more than 60% of the territory while Canada and Denmark share in about 15% each while the U.S. lags behind with less than 10%.

// Sep. 01, 2010 - 05:35 GMT

An expert witness for the prosecution testified Tuesday that Islamic charities based in Saudi Arabia, including the one an Iranian-born tree surgeon is accused of smuggling money for, were regular conduits of funding to Muslim fighters in the volatile Caucasus region.

// Sep. 01, 2010 - 05:33 GMT

Beset by mounting casualties on the battlefield and deepening disquiet at home over the United States' longest war, President Obama's Afghan policy now faces another big headache: the unraveling of central authority in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation that hosts a U.S. air base critical to the battle against the Taliban.

// Sep. 01, 2010 - 05:31 GMT