Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Mismanagement of Russian Economy Could Lead to Social Unrest
The standard Kremlin spiel on Russia’s economic crisis is that it is all America’s fault. President Dmitri Medvedev said in his Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on November 5: “…the U.S. economy…pulled financial markets all around the globe [down] with it... MORE
Arms Shipment to the Kurds May Be a Sign of Conflict Between the KRG and Baghdad
The Washington Post has reported that three C-130 cargo planes delivered small arms and ammunition from Bulgaria to Iraq in September. Three U.S. military officials indicated that the weapons shipment procedure did not comply with Iraqi government regulations. Kurdish officials declined to answer questions about... MORE
Medvedev’s Refusal To Attend Famine Commemorations Worsens Already Poor Relations
Ukraine’s relations with Russia have deteriorated to their lowest level in two decades, with Zerkalo Nedeli (November 22) stating that the Russian authorities and society have never been as negatively disposed toward Ukraine as now, even during the Orange Revolution. The deterioration has taken place... MORE
Addressing Naval Imbalance in the Black Sea After the Russian-Georgian War
During the last decade a network of maritime security arrangements developed in the Black Sea, with all riparian countries participating. These arrangements center on the BLACKSEAFOR activities, the Black Sea Harmony operation, and a few other joint projects on maritime security. Focused on handling post-modern... MORE
A Rogue Fleet in the Black Sea
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet operated with total impunity—political and legal, as well as military—against Georgia during the August war. Breaching the neutrality of Ukraine, where it is mainly based, and tearing apart international maritime law, the Russian fleet’s actions exploited the vacuum of Western power... MORE
Erdogan Visits India: Bilateral Trade and Turkish-Israeli-Indian Energy Cooperation on the Agenda
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited India from November 21 to 24, against a background of growing economic ties between the two nations. Erdogan was the first Turkish prime minister to visit India since Bulent Ecevit’s visit in 2000. Erdogan met Indian President Pratibha... MORE
Armenia Debates an Elusive Peace with Azerbaijan
Faced with a growing outcry from nationalist groups opposed to major concessions to Azerbaijan, Armenia’s leadership is scrambling to clarify its policy on the unresolved Karabakh conflict to the domestic political elite and the broader public. President Serzh Sarkisian met with leaders of about 50... MORE
Shooting Incident in Georgia: Information Warfare Heats Up
On November 23, in an already tense situation between Moscow and Tbilisi, automatic gunfire was allegedly directed toward a motorcade taking Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the village of Metekhi, in Kaspi District, to meet victims of the Russian-Georgian war.... MORE
Turkey Pushes for Closer Political Ties Within the Turkic-Speaking World
The speakers and delegates of the parliaments of the Turkish-speaking countries—Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey—met in Istanbul on November 20 and 21 for a Conference of Turkic-Speaking Countries’ Parliamentary Speakers. Turkish Speaker of Parliament Koksal Toptan, Azerbaijani Speaker of Parliament Oktay Seidov, Kyrgyz Speaker of... MORE
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
At dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the... MORE