Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
INTERNATIONAL MONITORS SPLIT OVER AZERBAIJAN ELECTIONS
The November 6 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan drew significant international attention, partly driven by the desire to see if another democratic "color revolution" would take place in the post-Soviet region. Foreign journalists and international observers flooded the streets of Baku. Historically a geopolitical battleground, Azerbaijan... MORE
NATO PEACEKEEPING TROOPS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS?
During his November 9 visit to Armenia, NATO South Caucasus Liaison Officer Romualds Razuks declared that NATO is ready to deploy peacekeeping forces to the South Caucasus, if necessary. Razuks stressed that any potential deployment would be within the context of the OSCE Minsk group... MORE
UZBEKISTAN: ENTER RUSSIA
The alliance treaty of Russia and Uzbekistan, signed on November 14 in Moscow, painfully illustrates Washington's declining plausibility as a buttress of security and stability in Central Asian perceptions, particularly that of the region's strategic linchpin country Uzbekistan. Those perceptions are traceable to U.S. policy... MORE
UZBEKISTAN: EXIT AMERICA
Tashkent's now-official switch of alliances completes the reversal of a cycle that had begun with Uzbekistan's attendance at NATO's 1999 Washington summit, its abandonment of the CIS Collective Security Treaty that same year, and accession to the U.S.-supported GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) group. Uzbekistan... MORE
PUTIN PLEDGES TO BACK UP KARIMOV IN A CRISIS
Russia and Uzbekistan have formally signed a new military alliance agreement with far-reaching consequences for bilateral relations between the two states and for Central Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Uzbek President Islam Karimov to Moscow in order to sign the treaty on November 14.... MORE
RUSSIA’S WARMING TOWARD UZBEKISTAN MAY DAMAGE RELATIONS WITH THE WEST
As the Kremlin inked an alliance with Uzbekistan this week, the European Union banned arms sales to Tashkent and imposed visa restrictions on top Uzbek officials. While Russia may have scored a geopolitical victory in the short term, it will likely lose in the long... MORE
WILL AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION CHOOSE TURMOIL AS A STRATEGY?
Emboldened by certain international monitors' biased assessments, and ignoring the more objective evaluations of Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections, opposition leaders have launched street actions to press for the annulment of the results of the November 6 parliamentary vote and for holding new elections country-wide. The radical... MORE
ATTEMPT TO PURGE YUSHCHENKO PARTY FAILS
The People's Union-Our Ukraine party of President Viktor Yushchenko (NSNU) is undergoing a severe identity crisis just four months ahead of the crucial parliamentary polls scheduled for March 26. Addressing the NSNU congress on November 12, Yushchenko said the party should win the election. This... MORE
COLLECTIVE SECURITY GROUP SEEKS TO ESTABLISH ITS IDENTITY, AVOID MERGERS
Russia's efforts to promote a regional military bloc with five Soviet successor states have been stymied by NATO's refusal to treat the grouping as an equal partner. Officially, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) seeks to ensure the security and territorial integrity of its member... MORE
NGOs WANT KYRGYZ TO BE THE SOLE STATE LANGUAGE OF KYRGYZSTAN
Several days before Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev presented the draft law "On the Introduction of Changes and Additions to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" for public discussion, a number of local national movements raised the question of elevating the status of the Kyrgyz language... MORE