In 2019, Armenia’s economic situation markedly improved, registering GDP growth of 6.5 percent, a stable financial system, upgraded credit ratings, higher budget revenues and reduced public debt (Emerging Europe, December 30, 2019). According to a poll conducted in September and October by the International Republican... MORE

From Russia’s perspective, the conflicts it has itself instigated in the greater Black Sea region are strictly separate cases. Moscow regards the conflicts over Ukraine’s Crimea and Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia as settled and closed. By contrast, Russia seeks political settlements to the active... MORE

Since the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation’s relations with its immediate Black Sea neighbors—the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine—have veered from frigid to open conflict. Russia engaged in a brief war in 2008 with Georgia; then, six years later,... MORE

Throughout 2019, insurgent activities in the North Caucasus continued to plummet. According to preliminary data, based on multiple reports published by Kavkazsky Uzel over the past year, 46 people were directly affected by rebel-related violence in the region, of whom 32 were killed and 14... MORE

Russia’s political-military leadership frequently criticizes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its enlargement and for staging military exercises close to Russian borders. This pattern has intensified since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine in 2014 and the subsequent downturn in its relations with the United States... MORE

The three countries of the South Caucasus—Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan—found themselves in a precarious situation following the United States’ killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, on January 3, 2020, due to their parallel relationships with both Tehran and Washington. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan offered... MORE

The politics of Azerbaijan were unusually dynamic in 2019, compared to recent years, shifting dramatically between January and December. President Ilham Aliyev notably continued the transformative reforms he began several years earlier. And almost every month, the Azerbaijani leader caught domestic and international observers by... MORE

On January 20, Chechnya’s strongman, Ramzan Kadyrov, reappeared in public after more than a week of absence. Kadyrov presided over a government meeting in Grozny, at which he stated that he had no plans to take up employment outside the republic (Chechnya.gov.ru, January 20, 2020).... MORE

A series of turbulent political events, anti-liberal processes and degrading security conditions in the region that unfolded in 2019 have left Georgia at a perilous crossroads ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 31, 2020. The main question that many local politicians and experts... MORE

The eastern half of the North Caucasus (see EDM, January 14, 2020) has been more restive in the last 12 months than the western half—indeed, one recent survey of the entire region during 2019 ignored the Northwest Caucasus altogether (Ekho Kavkaza, January 5, 2020). But... MORE