The Ukrainian events have demonstrated that when religious passions enter into a conflict between two nations, those passions can divide closely related peoples as well as transform the conflicts from ones amenable to a negotiated compromise into absolutist struggles where a non-violent settlement is far... MORE

Between July 30 and August 4, flash skirmishes erupted along the Armenia-Azerbaijan contact line. While small-scale ceasefire violations have been relatively common, the recent events caused the highest casualty rates this frozen conflict has seen since 2008. According to official sources, 13 Azerbaijani soldiers were... MORE

Many commentators in Moscow, Baku and Ankara have expressed the hope that the inclusion of countries in the South Caucasus in Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) will lead to the resolution of the Karabakh dispute. But a Russian expert says that the inclusion of Armenia... MORE

Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and Western hand-wringing in response, demonstrate the depth of the security vacuum in Europe’s East. Comprising Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, this area forms the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) and the European Union’s direct eastern neighborhood.... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Armenia on December 2 to seal his triumph in turning Armenia away from the European Union (see accompanying article). Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan noted that Armenia has participated in three high-level meetings in the course of three months... MORE

Back-to-back with the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius (see EDM, December 3–5), Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Armenia on December 2. Putin’s timing was designed to underscore Russia’s capacity to induce Armenia to choose Russia and Eurasia over Europe.... MORE

The European Union’s Vilnius summit (November 28–29) helped to demonstrate that the Eastern Partnership program must pursue a more differentiated approach toward the individual partner countries.The EU had, broadly speaking, made identical offers to Armenia and Azerbaijan, respectively. It proposed to each of them the... MORE

On October 24 and 25, Belarus hosted two high-level meetings of heads of state of the Supreme Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). While these gatherings enabled their participants to discuss a wide range of issues... MORE

“Complementarity,” the term purportedly denoting Armenia’s policy of balance between Russia and the West, has reached the end of the road, and that end is Russia. Long assumed to be the guiding principle of Armenia’s foreign policy, “complementarity” has lost any meaning with Armenia’s decision... MORE

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats over taking unsanctioned visits to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, saying this contradicts international law. Many governmental agencies in Baku have stated that such visits, made without prior notification of the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are... MORE