Latest Articles about The Caucasus
RUSSIA MOVES TOWARD OPEN ANNEXATION OF ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA
On April 16 Russia’s outgoing president Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing direct official relations between Russian government bodies and the secessionist authorities in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The decree also treats as valid the secessionist authorities’ “legislation” in the respective territories, which looks... MORE
NEW ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TAKES OFFICE, KEEPS UP REPRESSION
Serzh Sarkisian was sworn in as Armenia’s new president on April 9 amid a lingering political crisis triggered by his extremely controversial victory in last February’s presidential election. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the 53-year-old former prime minister sought to reach out to hundreds of... MORE
THE PRO-MAP FACTION SUCCEEDS AT NATO SUMMIT
NATO’s recently concluded summit in Bucharest highlighted the political weight of the new member countries from Central and Eastern Europe in the alliance’s decision-making processes. Aligned with the United States, Canada and two small West European countries, the new members formed the critical mass that... MORE
UKRAINIAN AND GEORGIAN MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTS INTENSELY DEBATED AT NATO SUMMIT
Midway through the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2 to 4, Germany and France seemed to have blocked the approval of Membership Action Plans for Ukraine and Georgia (MAPs). The summit representatives have until April 4 to agree on substitute language regarding Ukraine’s and... MORE
KARABAKH PEACE IN QUESTION AFTER ARMENIAN VOTE
Armenia’s post-election political crisis and Azerbaijan’s apparent attempts to take advantage of it are dealing a serious blow to international mediators’ hopes for a near-term solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflicting parties are hardening their positions and stepping up mutually hostile rhetoric, despite significant... MORE
EXTRANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS BLOCK GEORGIAN AND UKRAINIAN MAPS AT THE NATO SUMMIT
In on-the-record interventions and, especially, at off-the-record policy conferences, German officials laid out a whole collection of arguments against Membership Action Plans (MAPs) for Georgia and Ukraine at the upcoming NATO summit. Several West European governments share some of those arguments to one degree or... MORE
GEORGIA OFFERS FAR-REACHING AUTONOMY TO ABKHAZIA
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has proposed a reunification of Abkhazia with the rest of Georgia on terms of far-reaching autonomy and with the assistance of international guarantors (Civil Georgia, Rustavi 2 TV, March 28). All elements of a political settlement are to be placed on... MORE
NATO MEMBERSHIP ACTION PLANS: “NOT IF BUT WHEN”?
Ahead of NATO’s April 2-4 Bucharest Summit, the alliance is preoccupied with maintaining the principles on which it interacts with aspirant countries. The core principles may be summed up as: the open door, membership action plans on the road to that open door, merit-based assessment... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S RELATIONS WITH MINSK GROUP HIT NEW LOW
Azerbaijanis have long distrusted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk group, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States. All three countries have large Armenian diasporas and are considered to favor Armenians in the Karabakh conflict. Many Azerbaijanis accuse the Minsk group... MORE
NATO MEMBERS STATING THE CASE FOR GEORGIAN AND UKRAINIAN MEMBERSHIP ACTION PLANS
The German government’s all-out, public campaign against Georgian and Ukrainian Membership Action Plans (MAPs) risks splitting NATO ahead of the alliance’s April 2-4 Bucharest summit. Germany alone has embarked on such a public crusade, in the avowed expectation that other NATO countries would follow Berlin’s... MORE