Latest articles from Vladimir Socor
OSCE Avoids the Hard Issues at Year-End Conference
In common with all OSCE chairmanships since 2003 (when Russian veto power mauled the organization irreparably during the Dutch chairmanship), Finland set itself a minimal task in 2008: to ensure institutional survival by deferring to Russia in Europe’s East and hosting a “successful” year-end conference,... MORE
Russia’s Invasion of Georgia Overshadows OSCE’s Year-End Conference
Like many other organizations struggling for relevance or plain survival, the OSCE looks to summitry as a panacea. Unable to deal with Russia’s invasion of Georgia and other Kremlin challenges, the OSCE can instead call a summit for 2009 to accommodate the Kremlin. This might... MORE
Lukoil Embarking on a Vast Expansion Program Despite Financial Crisis
Apparently undaunted by the financial and credit crisis, Russia’s Lukoil company has embarked on a vast program of expansion into European Union territory. Where Russian state-controlled companies may encounter resistance, Lukoil presents itself as privately owned. This distinction has, however, become almost meaningless in practical... MORE
Azerbaijan Quietly Lending Impetus to Nabucco Project
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov of Turkmenistan, and Abdullah Gul of Turkey met on November 28 and 29 in Turkmenistan to discuss trilateral cooperation with a focus on natural gas deliveries. The presidents held bilateral talks in Ashgabat before meeting in the trilateral... 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
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
Russia Says It May Abandon Nord Stream Pipeline – Part II
The Kremlin has warned that it might abandon the Nord Stream gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed from Russia to Germany (see EDM, November 19). The warnings seem designed to line up wider European support for the project as well as to distract attention... MORE
Russia Says It May Abandon Nord Stream Pipeline and Switch to LNG
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned on November 12, and Gazprom Vice-President Aleksandr Medvedev echoed on November 18, that Russia might abandon the project to lay a gas pipeline, Nord Stream, on the Baltic seabed to Germany. Instead, Putin and Medvedev asserted, Russia could switch... MORE
Azerbaijan-Georgia Corridor: Growing Transit Volumes Bolster Security
Russia’s invasion of Georgia severely disrupted the operation of the energy transit corridor during August and September, causing revenue losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the oil and gas companies. Physical damage to the corridor, however, turned out to... MORE