Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, who in the past consistently stressed his readiness for political negotiations with the Kremlin, has delivered a message promising stepped up attacks in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and beyond, and that rebel forces will kill the winner of the next Chechen presidential... MORE

On July 22 Georgia's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources ordered British Petroleum (BP) to suspend construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the Borjomi valley of Western Georgia. The U.S.-backed and BP-led strategic $3.6-billion, 1750-km pipeline is intended to transport 800,000 barrels of crude... MORE

Late on the evening of July 28, martial law was declared in Kabardino-Balkaria. According to Radio Liberty, all security forces, police, and internal troops were put on alert. Police stations, hospitals, and public transportation facilities were placed under heavy guard. A correspondent from a radio... MORE

A new videotape showing Chechen and Ingush insurgents led by warlord Shamil Basaev in a Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) warehouse in Ingushetia has become topic number one in the Russian media (kavkazcenter.com, July 26). This tape was made in June, when between 200 and... MORE

On July 28 in Moscow, South Ossetia's leader Eduard Kokoev told a news conference that "Abkhazia, Karabakh, and Trans-Dniester are ready to render military assistance to South Ossetia" against Georgia. (NTV, July 28). Coincidentally or not, Trans-Dniester's self-styled "foreign affairs minister" Valery Litskay was in... MORE

After the Rose Revolution, relations between the Georgian government and local media have increasingly caused concern, because the government has attempted to tame the press by administrative measures under the plausible excuse of establishing the rule of law. Consequentially, some Georgian television stations and newspapers,... MORE

Recent developments suggest that, after nearly ten years, the Kremlin still is unable to respond to attacks by separatists bent on an independent Chechnya. First, Chechen rebels staged a raid in neighboring Ingushetia on June 21. Several hundred rebels, joined by Ingush gunmen, essentially seized... MORE

The upcoming October 3 presidential election in the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia has caused a flurry of re-grouping among local political forces. The incumbent, Vladislav Ardzinba, cannot run for another term. New candidates are declaring their intentions and the front-runners seem to change daily. Sergei... MORE

Georgia's ongoing effort for a peaceful reintegration of South Ossetia is not only a legitimate national project, but also an attempt at rehabilitating the fundamentals of international law in the South Caucasus. This effort also advances Western strategic interests, which require a secure, economically sound... MORE

A new development in the Netherlands may influence efforts to settle the conflict between Georgia and its restive republic, Abkhazia. On July 8 prosecutors at the Hague-based UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) made the almost unprecedented decision to launch an investigation... MORE