Since the fall of the USSR, Armenia and Russia have sealed a strategic pact within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the military arm of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This political, military and economic alliance represents the strategic alliance in the South Caucasus, a region in the process of opening up. In the context of the 2008 Russian and Armenian presidential elections, it is interesting to analyze the relationship between these two states.

The recent violence that ensued in Kenya has taken many commentators by surprise. The appearance of stability and economic progress that the Eastern Africa country had built around a supposed successful democratic transition, just imploded. In this interview Hervé Maupeu, Head of the CREPAO and expert on electoral mobilization issues, discusses the current crisis. He details the deep political, social, economic and land divisions which have ripped Kenyan society apart.

Russia and Gazprom's natural gas strategies on the European market are the result of the uncertainties (volumes, prices) created by the liberalization of the EU natural gas market. The company's policy of asset acquisition, begun at the end of the 1990s, the multiplication of export networks, as well as the desire to preserve long-term contracts while benefiting from new contractual opportunities are all clear illustrations of this strategy. Yet the industrial and commercial strategies that Gazprom may develop cannot discount geopolitical issues. Therefore, Vladimir Putin's desire to place hydrocarbons at the service of his economic and foreign policies, notably by making use of large, internationalized companies owned primarily by the state, remains in the background.

Jadis simple corollaire de l'action militaire, ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la bataille des cœurs et des esprits constitue désormais l'un des enjeux principaux du conflit et en tout état de cause, l'enjeu majeur de la sortie de crise. Bien que préparée dès le temps de paix, la relation entre acteurs civils et militaires peine traditionnellement à se mettre en place sur les théâtres d'opérations, tant les modes opératoires des uns et des autres sont différents. Justement conçues pour dépasser ces divergences en Afghanistan, les équipes provinciales de reconstruction (PRT) représentent aujourd'hui l'outil de terrain le plus abouti en matière de coopération civilo-militaire.Malgré les ambiguïtés qui persistent entre aide humanitaire et objectifs militaires, en dépit également de résultats aléatoires et de certaines polémiques concernant la pertinence même du concept, les PRT s'étendent progressivement à tout l'Afghanistan qui fait désormais figure de laboratoire pour les stratégies de sortie de crise, au point de poser la question de la portée véritable de l'instrument pour les opérations de stabilisation à venir.