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'Bishkek Blunder' -- Feifer In 'The New Republic'

RFE/RL's Gregory Feifer looks at Kyrgyzstan's still-fragile democracy for "The New Republic." More
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Worth Watching

'Thank You, Ramzan'

The Chechen Leader's Personality Cult Video

Fast, Pray, Feast

Ramadan Celebrations Across The Region Video

No Way Out

Afghan Refugees Struggle To Survive In Tajikistan Video

An audience gathers for the first day of the poetry festival Meridian Czernowitz in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

Interview: Seeing Czernowitz As A 'Retrospective Utopia'

Historically a cultural and architectural center, Chernivtsi was even dubbed Little Vienna and Jerusalem-upon-the-Prut, a Danube tributary that runs through the city. This multicultural city is currently hosting an international poetry festival, "Meridian Czernowitz." RFE/RL speaks to one of the festival's organizers, Igor Pomerantsev. More

Prime Minister Vlad Filat (left) and Marian Lupu have both emerged as probable candidates for a direct presidential election, possibly splitting the coalition vote.

Moldovan Referendum Set, But No End In Sight To Political Standoff

Voters in Moldova go to the polls on September 5 in a referendum on whether to establish direct presidential elections -- a vote aimed at helping break a political deadlock that has gripped the country since April 2009. More

A U.S. soldier carried his bag as he prepared to leave Iraq in mid-August.

State Department Set To Increase Presence In Iraq

The capacity-building that thousands of U.S. civilians are charged with carrying out in Iraq presents a new and daunting set of security challenges, including protecting State Department employees working in a country that remains among the world's most dangerous. More

Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh: "These charges against me are ridiculous."

Iran's Human Rights Lawyers Increasingly Facing Their Own Days In Court

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has defended a number of political and human rights activists in Iran, is now facing her own day in court. After security forces searched her home and office and took away some of her personal belongings, she was charged with crimes against the state and ordered to face questioning this week. More

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin behind the wheel of a Lada Kalina somewhere in Siberia in late August.

Driven To Distraction: Putin's Lada Stunt Backfires Video

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ride across Siberia in a brand new Lada Kalina, designed to boost both Russia's flailing car industry and his own popularity ratings, appears to have run into an embarrassing glitch. Amateur videos showing three identical presidential Kalinas, one of them on a tow truck, are making the rounds on the Internet. More

Recent Features

Is Said Jawad being removed for going against "mainstream political wisdom in Kabul"?

What Led Kabul To Sack Ambassador To U.S.?

Ordered by Kabul to resign, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States says that while it's normal for him to step down after so long at the post, he's complained of a "smear campaign" against him in Afghanistan. More
An official works at her desk in the main hall of the Tehran Stock Exchange in early August.

Iran Risks Crash With Record Stock Market Boom, Say Economists

Analysts abroad warn that a "state-induced" boom on the Tehran stock exchange could end in a catastrophic crash, triggering a long depression that throws millions out of work. More
A U.S. soldier stands at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk on August 25. Continuing violence means the remaining 50,000 troops will still have much to do.

What Will U.S. Troops Do In Iraq Now?

As of September 1, the 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq officially begin a new mission: not fighting but "advising and assisting." But what exactly does that mean? More
"Batka

Erotic Filmmaker Chooses Belarus's Beleaguered Lukashenka As Next Target

Director Aleksandr Valov has made a career out of mocking foreign leaders who have fallen out of favor with the Kremlin. Now he is turning his lens on Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenko. More
Eighty-year-old Gul Shirin prays next to the fresh graves of 13 family members who died in flooding in Swat Valley in August.

Pakistan Devastation Hits High-Water Mark

As his neighbors work to salvage what possessions they can from their ruined homes, Gul Shirin sits in silence amid 13 freshly dug graves. The 80-year-old Swat Valley resident has lost nearly his entire family to the floods that continue to ravage Pakistan. More
Local children play inside a tent on the outskirts of Osh in late August.

New School Year Brings Anxiety In South Kyrgyzstan Video

Some families in southern Kyrgyzstan see the start of school as an opportunity to help their children heal the wounds of a summer break marred by bloody ethnic violence. Others fear that security measures are insufficient. More
Kheda Saratova is one of a handful of human rights activists left who continue to risk their lives in Chechnya.

Russian Rights Activist Battles On In Chechnya

A decade after Russia launched the second war in Chechnya, supposedly to bring order to a lawless region, Chechens are still being abducted, tortured, and killed -- this time mostly by the Kremlin-installed authorities who are firmly in charge. Kheda Saratova is one of the handful of human rights activists left who continue to risk their lives in Chechnya. More
Maia Matua

Following The Tracks Of The 'Disappeared' on Georgia's Abkhaz Border

As the world marks the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, Georgia's tiny Tsalenjikha District, along the Abkhaz-Georgian administrative border, remains fraught with anxiety over the fate of its missing persons. More
Edin Salaharevic

The 'Disappeared': For Bosnian Basketball Prodigy, The Limelight Held No Protection

Some 35,000 people went missing during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. One of them was a promising youth athlete with supporters throughout the region. But it wasn't enough to save him. More
An electrician checks the wires leading to a block of flats in Baghdad

Power Hungry: Iraqis Ask 'Where Is The Electricity?'

As U.S. combat troops leave Iraq this month, one of the problems left behind is a shortage of electricity. The problem is a measure of the future economic and political challenges the country faces. More
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