I was in Budyonnovsk on 14 June 1995, when Chechen separatists raided the town and took hostages, killing 129. Twenty years later, this town in southern Russia is still known as the 'town of black shawls'.
Passing laws against gender-motivated violence and gender inequality is not the same as putting them into practice.
At last, we can read what we have been missing – a literature as unpredictable as Georgian politics.
Since 1991, Georgia has celebrated Independence Day annually on 26 May. But this national holiday only exposes the gap between elites and the people.
In The Underground, like his mixed-race hero, Hamid Ismailov is looking, above and below ground, for the answer to the question: what is 'Russianness'?
Derbent, the oldest city in Russia, was supposed to mark its 2000th birthday – or was it 5000th – this year, but bureaucratic wrangles and ineptitude have meant a postponement of the celebrations.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union has given birth to a new and difficult reality in Georgia.
Scattered throughout Russia and the South Caucasus, Assyrians are looking for recognition of their suffering.
Abkhazia’s Strategic Partnership Agreement with Russia may be unpopular among the break-away republic’s population, but the government is keen to implement it and is clamping down on dissent.
Georgia’s signing of the Association Agreement with the EU has been welcomed by the country’s people and its elite, but it will likely not be the panacea they hope.
The murder of Boris Nemtsov tells us not that Putin is a strong leader, but rather one who has lost his grip.
Just like in business, the centre of Russia has transferred a range of its functions to a regional political ‘contractor’. But now the tail is starting to wag the dog.
