Latest Articles about The Caucasus

RUSSIAN SOFT-POWER INCREASING IN AZERBAIJAN

By:

Following Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, political analysts predicted that the Kremlin would step up its efforts to conquer the hearts and minds of people living in the post-Soviet region. This “soft diplomacy” has long been a powerful tool for Western democracies, and it is... MORE

ARMENIA IN TURMOIL AFTER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PRAISED BY WEST

By:

Armenia is facing its most serious political crisis in years in the wake of the February 19 presidential election that was controversially won by Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. Tens of thousands of supporters of his main challenger, former president Levon Ter-Petrosian, have been holding daily... MORE

BADRI PATARKATSISHVILI DIES IN LONDON

By:

Georgian billionaire and frustrated business king of the country, Badri Patarkatsishvili, died today (February 13) in London of a reported heart attack. Patarkatsishvili had left Georgia on November 3, 2007, after bankrolling political protests against the government and instigating unrest through his fully owned Imedi... MORE

OIL-HANDLING CAPACITIES GROWING AND AVAILABLE ON GEORGIA’S BLACK SEA COAST

By:

Continuing development of oil terminals on Georgia’s Black Sea coast opens real possibilities for exporting oil from Kazakhstan on the shortest route, directly to European Union territory by sea tankers. The long-planned, EU-supported Odessa (Ukraine)-Brody-Plock-Gdansk (Poland) or Constanta (Romania)-Trieste (Italy) pipeline projects are natural continuation... MORE

DOES MOSCOW BACK ARMENIA’S EMBATTLED LEADERS?

By:

As the outcome of Armenia’s upcoming presidential election looks increasingly unpredictable, Russia is exercising unusual caution in backing a transfer of power from outgoing President Robert Kocharian to his chief lieutenant, Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. Moscow has only indirectly and timidly endorsed Sarkisian’s presidential bid,... MORE

BADRI PATARKATSISHVILI’S GHOST PARTIES EMERGE IN GEORGIA

By:

Fugitive billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, who bankrolled the opposition groups’ regime-change campaign and helped incite it through his Imedi Television, is launching a new political project in Georgia from abroad. Patarkatsishvili plans to enter Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections campaign through this project. In mid-January, some former... MORE

KARABAKH AGAIN THE FOCUS OF FOREIGN POLICY

By:

After rather a calm year in 2007, conflict over Karabakh is once again emerging as a primary foreign policy focus in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Last year, Azerbaijani and Armenian politicians, as well as international mediators, struggled to find a breakthrough in the peace talks... MORE

GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES ADDRESSING OPPOSITION’S DEMANDS

By:

The Georgian president, parliament leadership, and government are engaged in a dialogue with opposition leaders about legislative changes in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. One immediate goal of the authorities is to defuse the potential for confrontation and destabilization that this group of opposition... MORE

GEORGIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES ON THE CONFRONTATION PATH AGAIN

By:

On January 29 a dozen opposition parties and three of the six losing presidential candidates issued an ultimatum-like list of 17 demands to Georgian authorities (Civil Georgia, January 29). The declaration is formally addressed to Parliament Chair Nino Burjanadze, because the oppositionists do not recognize... MORE