Latest Articles about The Caucasus

Trade and Geopolitics in and Around Kazakhstan

On June 20, after meeting with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced Germany’s recent endorsement of Kazakhstan’s efforts to create alternative trade routes and transport corridors to Europe while bypassing Russia. Steinmeier declared that such measures would further prevent the Kremlin’s... MORE

NATO’s 2023 Summit: Modest Expectations, Modest Results (Part Two)

*Read Part One. The Vilnius summit’s communiqué (July 11) agreed on by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members slightly advances Ukraine’s membership prospects by mentioning the possibility of an “invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance” (Nato.int, July 11, Paragraph 11). The word “invitation”... MORE

Is Chechnya’s Strongman Poised to Capitalize on Prigozhin’s Downfall?

Reading into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in the aftermath of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny is comparable to entering a baffling alternate universe where messages are sent with symbols, cues and nonverbal communication (Medialeaks.ru; T.me/strelkovii, June 29). Take, for example, the Russian president’s first post-coup visit, which... MORE

Moscow Announces End-Run Around Increasingly Hostile Kazakhstan

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power, Moscow has routinely sought to redirect trade through countries in the post-Soviet space to help its allies and weaken its opponents with the goal of preventing any of the former union republics from becoming regional competitors to... MORE