Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA’S NEW CHINA-BOUND GAS PIPELINE PLAN SPARKS CONTROVERSY
As the Kremlin pledged to build two huge natural gas pipelines to China by 2011, one of these routes has already triggered an environmental controversy. When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China on March 21-22 for talks with President Hu Jintao, he reiterated pledges to... MORE
DAGESTAN CONTINUES TO SINK INTO CHAOS DESPITE APPOINTMENT OF NEW LEADER
More than a month has passed since the Kremlin appointed a new leader for Dagestan, the largest republic in the North Caucasus. On February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin put 65-year-old Mukhu Aliev at the helm of the North Caucasus republic and Dagestan's legislature readily... MORE
AZERBAIJAN SPEARHEADING INITIATIVE ON TRANS-CASPIAN GAS PIPELINE
Addressing an international energy conference in progress in Baku, Azerbaijan's Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev outlined the advantages of a trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan via the South Caucasus to European markets. Natig Aliyev underscored the project's value for diversifying supplies and... MORE
NEW TENSIONS COMPLICATE RELATIONS BETWEEN BAKU AND TEHRAN
More than 600 representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in 49 countries assembled in Baku on March 16 for the second World Azerbaijani Congress. The event was organized by the State Committee on the Affairs of Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, which was established in 2003 by a... MORE
ELECTION DEFEAT A COLD SHOWER FOR YUSHCHENKO
The Our Ukraine (NU) bloc of President Viktor Yushchenko lost the March 26 parliamentary elections not only to the opposition Party of Regions (PRU) of Viktor Yanukovych, whom Yushchenko defeated in the presidential poll in 2004, but also, quite unexpectedly, to its former Orange coalition... MORE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL SHUTS EYES AND EARS TO GEORGIA
At Moscow's request, the United Nations Security Council excluded Georgia from the March 28 session that discussed prolonging the mandate of the United Nations Missions of Observers in Georgia. UNOMIG has been stationed in Abkhazia since 1994 as a passive, largely irrelevant bystander that never... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN SET TO SUPPLY MORE ARMAMENTS TO ITS ARMED FORCES
Kazakhstan has taken additional steps to improve its ability to supply its armed forces with armaments and to foster greater security independence as a consequence. Specific proposals include the creation of a helicopter factory as well as stepping up the manufacture of ammunition for the... MORE
U.S.-RUSSIA RELATIONS: GROWING RIFT OVER EURASIA’S DEMOCRATIZATION
The unveiling of the latest version of the White House's National Security Strategy and the Kremlin's sharp reaction to the blueprint laid bare the growing divergence of American and Russian understanding of each other's role in the world. The U.S. administration's updated playbook on national... MORE
IVANOV TAKES CHARGE OF RUSSIAN MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATE
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has appeared to be in political trouble since the start of the year. The traditional pompous celebrations of Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23 were overshadowed by the scandal around the brutal hazing of a young conscript at... MORE
RUSSIA BANS GEORGIAN, MOLDOVAN WINES AND OTHER PRODUCTS
As of March 27, Russian authorities have banned the import of all wines from Moldova and Georgia, traditionally the leading suppliers to Russia's market. In addition, as of March 21 Russia's authorities banned the entry of plants and vegetable products from Georgia. It seems that... MORE