Ratko Mladic Goes on Trial for Genocide

The trial of General Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army chief accused of orchestrating war crimes and a campaign of genocide, has begun at a special U.N. court at The Hague in the Netherlands.

GEORGIA: Tbilisi Walks Diplomatic High Wire on Iranian Nuclear Issue

Georgia is clearly the closest U.S. ally in the South Caucasus, moving in lockstep with American interests on just about every foreign policy issue – except one: Iran.

Building Libya’s New Media “From a Void”

Going from being a country with a highly controlled press to one that has free, independent and functioning media in roughly a year is a tall order.

KYRGYZSTAN: Justice Elusive for Kidnapped Brides

Even though she was kidnapped, pressured into marrying a man from a nearby village, and then abandoned without means to sustain herself and the couple's two young children, Totugul can't rely on Kyrgyzstan's courts for help.

KAZAKHSTAN: Rights Activists Urge Halt to Zhanaozen Trial amid Torture Claims

An attempt to render justice is quickly turning into a PR debacle for Kazakhstan. Troubling allegations that torture was employed to obtain incriminating statements is engulfing the trial of 37 individuals accused in connection with a deadly riot last December in the western oil town of Zhanaozen.

Poverty Encourages Early Marriages in Tajikistan

When she was 16, Kibriyo Khaitova’s parents told her that if she didn’t marry, she’d soon be a spinster. So, like many girls from Tajikistan, Khaitova married a man her family found for her. Now 20, she has two children, no husband and is fending for herself.

Haiti’s University Languishes in Ruins – Part 2

When the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission failed to approve, or even respond to, a proposal by the University of the State of Haiti (UEH) for a unified campus to replace the nine destroyed or badly damaged faculties in the capital, Vice Rector Fritz Deshommes was not surprised at the silence.

Haiti’s University Languishes in Ruins – Part 1

Two years after the earthquake, and despite the proposals written, the consortiums organised and the foreign delegations entertained, the University of the State of Haiti (Université d'Etat d'Haïti or UEH) still has not seen any "reconstruction", and the proposal for a university campus that would unite all 11 faculties remains a 25-year-old dream.

Azerbaijan and Israel: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

As the showdown over Iranian nuclear ambitions intensifies, political analysts in Azerbaijan are urging the government to deepen the country's ties with Israeli and Western security structures.

KYRGYZSTAN: Efforts to Tackle Bride Kidnapping Hit Polygamy Snag

Legislation designed to discourage the controversial practice of bride kidnapping fizzled recently in Kyrgyzstan's parliament.

Double Sentence: AIDS in a Senegalese Prison

Amadou* takes in a long, deep breath, clears his throat and steps to the front of the room. He turns to look out at a familiar group of faces sitting on long wooden benches here at the Camp Penal maximum-security prison in Dakar. This is the last in a group of 150 inmates Amadou has been speaking with today. He’s tired, but remains focused.

CASPIAN BASIN: As Energy Prices Head North, Democratisation Goes South

Quiz: Over the next three months, three former Soviet republics will hold elections – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. Whose official outcome will most closely resemble the truth?

AFGHANISTAN: The Pressure Is Now on Central Asian Supply Route

The Northern Distribution Network, the key re-supply route for U.S. and NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan, is set to experience a spike in traffic due to the closure of the Pakistani-Afghan border. But it will take several weeks for the United States and NATO to work out the logistics of rerouting cargo.

OP-ED: How About an Israeli Destruction Freeze?

Much was made of what many in the media described as a "confrontation" between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama over the building of illegal Israeli settlements (or colonies) in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

TAJIKISTAN: President Taking a Press Beating in Dushanbe

Following a diplomatic faux pas that enraged Russia, the knives seem to be out for Tajikistan's long-time president, Imomali Rahmon.