![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-caucasus_01.jpg)
Latest Articles about The Caucasus
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/georgia-transit-hub.jpeg)
Georgian Transit Booming Because of War in Ukraine and Anti-Russian Sanctions
On June 3, the Georgian Ministries of Internal Affairs and Finance announced that all employees of the Border and Customs Department would begin operating each of the country’s physical border checkpoints continuously, in emergency mode, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (Businessfeed.ge, May... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TurkeyRussiaErdoganPutinRTR3B62S-640x427.jpg)
As War Rages in Ukraine, Turkey Expanding Its Soft Power in North Caucasus
Although Turkey is no longer as dramatically active in the North Caucasus as during the 1990s, when it backed Chechen aspirations for independence, Ankara is quietly expanding its use of soft power mechanisms there. As Russian analyst Andrey Areshov writes, these overtures toward the region—increasingly... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Kadryov-secret-police-640x360.jpg)
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Is Changing Regional Politics in the North Caucasus
Russia’s large-scale re-invasion of Ukraine continues to send tremors across the wider region as well as inside the Russian Federation, including transforming the politics of Russia’s regions. Earlier plans by Moscow to amalgamate various federal entities and to create several large supra-regional metropolitan areas across... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Irakli-Garibashvili-and-michel-eu-640x337.jpg)
Georgia Claims Pole Position Among Eastern European EU Aspirants
On June 3, at the Global Security Forum, in Bratislava, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili declared, “I will say without exaggeration that Georgia has always been a leader among Eastern European countries.” He added that Georgia had done its homework on joining the European Union,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/aliev_and_xi-640x460.jpg)
Russia’s Arctic Strategy Melting Under the Scorch of Sanctions (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The unprovoked large-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine, launched on February 24, is putting at risk the Kremlin’s ambitious plans related to economic exploitation of the Arctic region and the Russian High North. Not only are the Russian... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Pashinian-and-putin-sitting-talking-640x439.jpg)
Russia-Dependent Armenia Shies Away From Openly Backing Moscow on Ukraine War
Bilateral relations with Russia remain of crucial importance to Armenia, given the small South Caucasus country’s difficult security predicament. Yet these considerations extend beyond hard military factors. Russia monopolizes Armenia’s energy supply, exemplified, in particular, by Gazprom’s direct ownership of the Armenian pipeline and natural... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/alan_gagloiev-podium-640x426.jpg)
Moscow Postpones South Ossetian Referendum on Joining Russia
On May 20, the newly inaugurated “president” of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, Alan Gagloev (who was elected on May 8), signed a decree to suspend a planned referendum on this statelet’s accession to the Russian Federation (Radio Tavisupleba, May 30; Civil.ge, May 31).... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/maria-zakharova-640x640.jpg)
Moscow Warns EU Against ‘Geopolitical Games’ in South Caucasus
On May 22, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and President Ilham Aliyev, respectively, met in Brussels for talks under mediation by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. The event was a follow-up to their previous three European Union–mediated... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Bruytaia-640x421.jpg)
Inter-Ethnic Animosity Saps Effectiveness of Russia’s Army in Ukraine
Russia’s 2022 re-invasion of Ukraine has damaged not only bilateral relations between the two majority–Eastern Slavic neighbors but also—perhaps inadvertently—destabilized ties, links, goodwill, and mutual trust between the Russian periphery and the center, on the one hand, and between certain ethnic groups within the Russian... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/abashidze-press-conference-640x639.jpg)
Russia Is Ready to Reward Georgia for Standing Down
On May 17, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to lift all restrictions on the movement of Russian citizens through the Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint, located near the border with Georgia, at the north end of the Roki Tunnel (Kommersant, May 18). The Roki... MORE