Is There Less Than Meets The Eye?

The European Commission has reached out to six former Soviet nations, proposing generous financial assistance programs and free trade deals. But is there less than meets the eye? More

Tajik Children Get Used To Life Without 'Daddy'

Not all of the 1 million Tajik men who've gone abroad for work left behind wives and young children. But many did, and struggling families are finding that the direct and indirect costs of such migrant lifestyles are higher than they imagined. More

South Asia Seen As Key Challenge For Obama

With India accusing Pakistan of links to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors are at their lowest point since the two countries pulled back from the brink of war in 2002. Experts say this creates a major foreign-policy challenge for the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama -- how to keep tensions between India and Pakistan from derailing the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. More

Tensions Could Spark New Terror Challenge

Tensions are soaring again between Pakistan and India, shaken by last week's terror attacks. If the standoff leads to another military build-up on the two rivals' border, what would it mean for the regional war on terror? More

Battling Disease, Social Prejudice

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, some 1.5 million adults and children are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. UNAIDS, a UN agency that tracks the progress of the epidemic, reports that some 20,000 people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia were infected with HIV in 2007. Another 14,000 people died of AIDS. More

Russian Political Elite Get Nervous

It has long been an article of faith that if oil prices dropped significantly, Russia's ruling elite could find itself in trouble. Now that oil prices are down two-thirds since their August highs, Russia's rulers are indeed starting to feel the heat. More

Dogged By Security Failings, Karzai Seeks Reelection

With Hamid Karzai's presidential term set to end next year, the deteriorating security situation in parts of Afghanistan appears to be harming his chances for reelection, and observers inside and outside the country are closely scrutinizing his record. More

Iran Emerges As Key Challenge For Obama

For nearly three decades, Iran and the United States have traded accusations and threats. Will any of that change under Barack Obama? More

Pakistani Intelligence Shuts Down Political Wing

Pakistani sources suggest that closing that country's powerful intelligence community's political arm will have little effect on foreign policy or the ISI's role in counterterrorism. But the change comes as Washington has been privately urging Islamabad to rein in ISI elements with alleged links to Islamic militants. More

Economist Says IMF Can Handle Spate Of Aid Requests, For Now

Two months ago, Iceland became the first country whose economy collapsed because of the global economic crisis, and it became the first to apply for aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since then, Pakistan also has appealed to the fund, as have Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, and Latvia. RFE/RL Washington correspondent Andrew F. Tully speaks about the crisis with Desmond Lachman, formerly the deputy director of the IMF's Policy and Review Department. More