
Latest Articles about The Caucasus

Is Turkey’s New Gas Discovery in the Black Sea a Game Changer?
In mid-August, Turkey officially announced the discovery of a massive, 320-billion-cubic-meter (bcm) natural gas field in the Black Sea, in an exploration zone called “Tuna-1” (TRT World, August 21). The news was met with some skepticism from energy experts, notably in the Middle East (Arab... MORE

Russia’s Kavkaz 2020: International Participation and Regional Security Implications
Despite some disruptions to this year’s military training schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (see EDM, April 21, 22), the Russian Armed Forces are preparing to hold their annual capstone strategic-operational exercise on September 15–26. “Kavkaz 2020” (“Caucasus 2020”) will feature large-scale drills spread across... MORE

Azerbaijani President Rebukes Putin Over Russian Military Cargo Deliveries to Armenia
The Kremlin’s website reported, on August 12, that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had initiated a phone call to congratulate Vladimir Putin on the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 and to discuss bilateral issues. The next day, however, in a wholly unprecedented move, Aliyev’s press service sharply... MORE

Georgian Authorities Seek to Block Azerbaijani Investment in Telecommunications Infrastructure
On July 17, Georgia’s parliament approved amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications, which will allow the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) to appoint “special managers” to telecommunications companies (Civil.ge, July 17). The GNCC is a state regulatory authority charged with distributing electronic communication protocols (rules... MORE

Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov Announces Creation of New Agency Focused on Compatriots Abroad
The pro-Kremlin ruler of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has unveiled plans to set up a republican government agency for relations with compatriots living abroad. The announcement came several weeks after the killing of a critic of Kadyrov in Vienna, Austria. Some observers contend that the Chechen... MORE

Despite Illegality, Crypto-Currency Mining Flourishes in Abkhazia
The separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia is undergoing a surge in crypto-mining despite crypto-related activities being illegal there since December 2018. But in one of those apparent legalistic gray areas found throughout the post-Soviet space, while the mining itself is illegal, importing crypto-mining equipment into... MORE

Azerbaijan, Turkey Hold Large-Scale Military Drills Amidst Escalation of Tensions With Armenia
On July 29, Azerbaijan and Turkey launched a two-week long round of joint military exercises with the participation of ground and air forces from both countries. The military drills involving land forces were held from August 1 to 5, in Baku and Nakhchivan; while the... MORE

Conflict Conservation in Ukraine’s East Follows the Transnistria Model (Part One)
“Frozen” is a Western mischaracterization of Russia’s protracted conflict undertakings against Moldova in Transnistria, against Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and now of the desired end to Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas. Those conflicts never “froze” in a political sense—not even after the... MORE

Moscow Attacks Highlight Growing Strength of Circassian National Movement
Mahatma Gandhi may never actually have said of colonized peoples that “first, the imperial authorities ignore you; then, they laugh you; then, they fight you; and then, you win”; but this observation nonetheless aptly fits Moscow’s evolving relationship with the Circassians. The Russian center had... MORE

Volga-Don Canal, Last Great Stalin Project, Desperately Needs Updating or Replacement
The Volga-Don Canal, the last of the great Stalinist-era construction projects, which involved the use of German prisoners of war and Soviet GULAG prisoners to move more than 150 million cubic meters of earth and pour more than 3 million tons of concrete, marked its... MORE