Russia’s Autumn 2026 Elections: A Plebiscite for the “Systemic Opposition”

Russia’s autumn 2026 elections cannot be characterized as routine. In many respects, they will constitute a plebiscite on the very survival of the “systemic opposition” model - a model that has endured without fundamental change for two decades. Even the Kremlin’s opponents do not dispute United Russia’s commanding electoral advantage. What remains in question is the architecture of the internal-systemic opposition to the party of power - an architecture that, by all indications, will look markedly different from the present one.

Transactional Diplomacy and Business Style: The Trump Administration in Central Asia

For Israel, the Trump administration’s shift in Central Asia toward business-oriented initiatives and transactional diplomacy may prove broadly advantageous. Israel itself has pursued a comparable approach in the region. At present, Central Asian states are actively seeking to expand economic and diplomatic engagement with Israel. In this context, the administration’s operational style in the region can be seen as largely compatible with Israeli approaches.

Conflict Between The Authorities Of Armenia And The Armenian Apostolic Church: Causes, Participants, Chronology And Development Scenarios

Analytical and academic sources agree that the conflict between the Armenian civil authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church is multifaceted and cannot be reduced to a purely religious, political, or foreign policy dimension. Research centers estimate that the task of developing a sustainable model of church-state relations in Armenia will remain one of the central challenges for the Armenian political system, at least in the medium term—especially against the backdrop of ongoing foreign policy reorientation, post-war trauma, and preparations for the June 2026 parliamentary elections.

Thirty Years After the USSR: Who Actually Won?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was preceded by a promise, implicit in the logic of market transition, that integration into the global economy would deliver prosperity. For some successor states, that promise was kept. For others, it has not been kept to this day.

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 31 (April 2026)

In April 2026, the PSCR program has prepared analytical materials covering a wide range of developments in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, and Ukraine.

Monthly Monitoring of Analytical Publications on Post-Soviet Conflicts

Our monitoring of March's academic publications, which touched on the post-Soviet space in one context or another, unexpectedly focused on the Central Asian region. This wasn't the editor's choice; it's simply that interest in this part of the post-Soviet space is growing exponentially among researchers worldwide. In our view, each of the five works we present to our readers deserves not only a place in the monitoring, but also a thoughtful reading.

A Visit That Moscow Cannot Ignore: Zelensky in Baku and the Remaking of the South Caucasus

Volodymyr Zelensky’s April 25 visit to Gabala and his joint appearance with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev produced six bilateral agreements spanning defense, energy, and trade — and positioned Baku as a prospective venue for trilateral Ukraine-Russia-U.S. negotiations. The episode crystallized a broader realignment already underway in the South Caucasus, one that Russian state media, wire services, and pro-war commentators struggled to process with composure.

“The Path to Freedom”: Program Of The Bashkir National Movement

A book by one of the leaders of the Bashkir national movement, Ruslan Gabbasov, “The Path to Freedom” has been published. In 2011, Gabbasov joined the Bashkir youth movement “Kuk Bure,” and in 2014 became one of the leaders of the nationalist organization “Bashkort,” created on its basis, which was banned in the Russian Federation in 2020.

Dismantling the Apparatus of Exile: Georgia’s Abolition of the South Ossetian Provisional Administration and Its Domestic Political Significance

On January 1, 2026, a quiet but politically charged institutional death took place in Georgia: the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia - formally titled the Administration of the Temporary Administrative-Territorial Unit on the Territory of the Former Autonomous Region of South Ossetia - ceased to exist as a legal entity. The abolition was the culmination of legislation adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on December 17, 2025, by a unanimous vote of 83 deputies, all from the ruling Georgian Dream party. This article examines the decision, its legal and administrative mechanics, its place in Georgian domestic politics, and its broader strategic implications.

The Kremlin’s Open Season on Pashinyan

With Armenia’s parliamentary election set for June 7, 2026, Moscow has moved beyond its customary displeasure with Yerevan and into something resembling an all-out campaign to remove Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan from power. The tools are familiar — state media invective, economic threats, curated street protests, and electoral interference — but the intensity is not. What makes the moment additionally curious is that Moscow’s talking points on the U.S.-brokered TRIPP corridor are being faithfully echoed by parts of the Armenian-American diaspora.

PSCRP