
Latest Articles about The Caucasus

Who Provoked the Clashes Between Local Armenians and the Georgian Police?
On September 30, Georgia’s minister of interior, Giorgi Mgebrishvili, urgently traveled to Samtskhe-Javakheti, a region on the country’s southern border. Most of the residents of this area are ethnic Armenians, though they hold Georgian citizenship (Jam-news.net, October 2). The minister flew by helicopter to the... MORE

Armenia Amends New Military Doctrine in Standoff With Azerbaijan Over Karabakh
At the Armenian diaspora’s Sixth Pan-Armenian Forum, held on September 18–20, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian declared that Yerevan was discussing the possible handover of some occupied territories back to Azerbaijan, in line with formerly accepted principles agreed upon by both sides in negotiations over... MORE

Five Years after Taking Power, Georgian Dream’s Promises Remain Unfulfilled
October 1 marked five years since the Georgian Dream (GD) coalition, led by Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won its landslide victory against the ruling United National Movement in the 2012 parliamentary elections (Cec.gov.ge, 2012). GD ended UNM’s nine-year rule, representing modern Georgia’s first ever peaceful... MORE

Despite Cut in Draft Numbers, Russia Unlikely to Have Fully Professional Army Soon
Russian officials are insisting, and many commentators are accepting without question, that the reduction in the fall draft quota this year shows Moscow is on course to meet President Vladimir Putin’s promise in 2012 to end the military draft entirely by 2020 and to have... MORE

Kurdish Referendum: Implications for the Karabakh Conflict
The September 25 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan highlighted two important implications for the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. First, official reactions from Baku and Yerevan have been noticeably cautious. Second, recent debates in Armenia and Azerbaijan have focused on whether the notional independence... MORE

Georgian Opposition Attacks Bank of Billionaire Ivanishvili
The party of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, United National Movement (UNM), has begun actively preparing for local elections, scheduled for October 21. Its first major action, which caused a big response, was a rally in downtown Tbilisi, at the central office of Cartu Bank,... MORE

Georgia’s Ruling Party ‘Supermajority’ Passes Unilateral Constitutional Reform
The parliament of Georgia approved amendments to the Constitution, on September 26, in its final, third reading. One hundred and seventeen lawmakers—mostly from Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia (GDDG)—voted in favor and two against. Parliamentarians from opposition parties United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia (EG) walked... MORE

Russian Portion of Caspian May Dry up This Century, Threatening Moscow’s Interests
Many countries around the world are now threatened by rising sea levels in coastal areas as a result of climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps. Russia is experiencing such a scenario in the Arctic. But it is also facing another serious... MORE

Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Visits Israel, as Bilateral Ties Grow Stronger
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov paid a visit to Israel, on September 11, to discuss cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres with the host country’s leading defense industry enterprises. While there, he also toured the Command and Control Center (CCC) of the Israeli Armed... MORE

Language Fight in Tatarstan Set to Ignite Political Explosion Across Russia
Political leaders normally like to convert “either/or” issues into “more or less” ones because the latter permit compromises while the former typically do not. However, the fight over the requirement that all residents in Tatarstan study Tatar fall into the former category. And as much... MORE