The second annual meeting under the US-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership was held on October 6 in Washington. Led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Nika Gilauri, respectively, the delegations held an ‘’omnibus’’ meeting –- that is, one encompassing the Charter’s four... MORE

NATO officials have recently once again attempted to bridge differences with Russia in the run-up to the November NATO summit in Lisbon. President, Dmitry Medvedev, was invited to Lisbon for a parallel NATO-Russian Council summit. NATO’s Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, during an interview to Interfax... MORE

Thirteen months into his tenure, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen travelled to Georgia, the number one troop-contributing country on a per capita basis to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. Rasmussen’s October 1 visit coincided with the death of four Georgians (a colonel and three NCOs) in... MORE

While US assistance for Georgia’s defense remains frozen, Moscow is ignoring objections to its own arms deliveries to Russia’s friends. Most recently in Washington, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov brushed aside US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ objections to Russia’s delivery of Bastion coastal artillery systems,... MORE

Visiting Washington on September 15-17, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov asked for the US to consider military equipment sales to Russia. Conversely, Serdyukov announced despite US objections that Russia would sell state-of-the-art anti-ship missiles to Syria. And in line with Russian policy, he warned against... MORE

Marking the second anniversary of Russia’s “coercion-to-peace” operation in Georgia, the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Army-General Nikolai Makarov, told the media: “Arms deliveries to Georgia are in full swing. Georgia’s military potential is significantly higher today, compared to August 2008.” Makarov added reproachfully... MORE

Russia’s deployment of long-range S-300 air defenses in Abkhazia is a sui-generis way to mark the second anniversary, not only of the invasion of Georgia, but also of the armistice agreement that committed Russia to withdrawing its forces. The deployment creates an interdiction capability potentially... MORE

Russian state news agencies announced today (August 11) that Russia’s armed forces have deployed the advanced S-300 air defense missile systems in Abkhazia, a territory that Moscow recognizes as “independent.” In a parallel move, air defenses of other types have been deployed in the Russian-recognized... MORE

Two years ago, Russian tanks stopped on the outskirts of Tbilisi before slowly rolling back to the devastated Tskhinvali, but nobody in Russia appears interested in celebrating or even reflecting on that “victory,” which is still broadly approved by public opinion (www.levada.ru, August 4). Russian... MORE

Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat acquired a new leader this past week, six months after the death on the night of December 31, 2009 of the previous Emir al-Bar (aka Umalat Magomedov). Seifullah of Gubden (aka Magomed Vagapov), the emir of the Gubden Jamaat, has been chosen... MORE