The
political fallout of the Russia-Georgia war of August 2008 affects far
more than the main combatants: it has had a profound impact on the
post-Soviet space, the United States, the European Union, even China
and Turkey. Ivan Krastev draws up a balance-sheet of a toxic conflict,
and looks ahead. 
On
August 1, 2009, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the new NATO secretary general,
will take office, succeeding Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. How will NATO
policy change, and what role does the organization see for itself in
the future? These questions were discussed at a conference in Brussels
on July 7, attended both by the outgoing secretary general, Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, and the newly designated NATO head Anders Fogh
Rasmussen. 
MOSCOW, July 31 (Marc Bennetts for RIA Novosti) - April is the cruellest month according to T.S. Eliot, but for modern Russia it is undoubtedly August, a time of catastrophe, crisis and political upheaval.
For almost two decades, Russians have learned to expect the worst from the eighth month of the year, with 1991 seeing a coup and 2008 war in the Caucasus.
The litany of August chaos and woe reads like this:
August 19, 1991 - Communist hardliners disgruntled at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms launch an unsuccessful coup attempt that leads to the break-up of the Soviet Union.
August 14, 1992 - The Georgian-Abkhazian war begins, with the conflict involving large numbers of Russian citizens.
Early August 1994 - The notorious MMM pyramid scheme collapses, leaving millions of Russians without their life-savings, a sum believed to be up to $1.5 billion.
August 24, 1995 - The Russian interbank credit system breaks down, leading to the ruin of 28 Russian banks.
August 29, 1996 - A ...
