Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
CHUBAIS REPORTEDLY BEHIND KREMLIN BID TO TAKE OVER SPS
Nikita Belykh, the leader of the Union of Right Forces (SPS), announced on September 26 that he was resigning over proposals by top party leaders to cooperate with the Kremlin. According to a number of observers, Belykh’s resignation is part of an effort being led... MORE
RUSSIA FAVORS STRONGER REGULATION TO TACKLE MARKET VOLATILITY
The Kremlin moved to employ strong regulatory methods to deal with this month's market turmoil. Russian officials have also tended to cite spreading fallout from the American credit crisis as a major reason for market volatility. The financial authorities reacted promptly, and the measures they... MORE
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE RETURNING TO THE SOUTH CAUCASUS TRANSPORT CORRIDOR
Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August caused partial and temporary disruptions to the transport corridor for Caspian oil and other commodities through that country. The two-pronged corridor, running from Azerbaijan to the Georgian Black Sea coast and via Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean coast, is... MORE
TURKEY’S FIRST MILGEM WARSHIP LAUNCHED IN ISTANBUL
On September 27 the Turkish navy launched the corvette TCG Heybeliada, the first modern warship to be designed, built, and equipped primarily from local resources. The TCG Heybeliada is the first in what will eventually be a series of 12 multi-purpose littoral combat warships built... MORE
RUSSIAN NAVY DEPLOYMENTS APPARENTLY INTENDED TO ANNOY U.S.
While most military analysts observing last month’s confrontation between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia tended to focus on the ground clashes, the naval significance of the encounter has spread far beyond Georgia’s waters. The U.S. Navy dispatched relief to Georgia on warships... MORE
RUSSIA IN MOLDOVA: A COUNTER-EXAMPLE TO UKRAINE AND GEORGIA?
Russia and Moldova are exploring a possible settlement of the Transnistria conflict on a bilateral basis, outside the international 5 + 2 format. Russia is the initiator of this approach, pulling a reluctant but still hopeful Moldova along. The Russian-desired outcome would: reunify Moldova nominally,... MORE
LESSONS AND LOSSES OF GEORGIA’S FIVE-DAY WAR WITH RUSSIA
The Georgian Government, defeated in the five-day war with Russia, has been adopting a two-pronged approach in its information strategy: trying to prove that the war was initiated by Russia on August 7, and frequently praising the might of the Georgian Army, which inflicted 10... MORE
TURKEY SEEKS TO TIGHTEN LEGISLATION AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING
On September 16 a directive by the Turkish Ministry of Finance to try to tighten Turkish anti-money-laundering legislation was published in the country’s Official Gazette. “The Directive on the Harmonization Program Regarding Responsibilities Related to the Prevention of the Laundering of Criminal Proceeds and the... MORE
RUSSIA NEUTERING THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AFTER INVASION OF GEORGIA
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), which opens its autumn session in Strasbourg on September 29, can hardly afford to ignore Russia’s invasion of Georgia and its consequences. A motion is pending at PACE to “reconsider the Russian delegation’s credentials, on grounds of serious... MORE
RUSSIA’S GLOBAL WAR GAMES
This week the Russian armed forces began month-long strategic military exercises called Stability 2008. According to the Defense Ministry, the scenario suggests "a worsening of the situation and an escalation of crisis situations into military confrontation" (www.mil.ru, September 20). The composition of the forces and... MORE