Latest Articles about South Caucasus
Ivanishvili’s Blunders May Be Very Costly for Georgia
The new Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili appeared quite surprised when he heard criticism from the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Speaking at a press conference in Prague, on November 12, where the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO... MORE
New Rhetoric, but Old Policy on Adjara Autonomy
On October 28, Georgia’s new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili named the new Head of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara (hereafter, Adjara)—a 1,120 square mile large region of stunningly beautiful mountains and rain forests, with the population of approximately 376,000, located on the... MORE
North Caucasian Activists See Relations with Georgia Under Threat
After the dramatic changes in Georgia’s political leadership in October 2012, experts in the North Caucasus see signs of a decreasing Georgian presence in the politics of the North Caucasus. “The North Caucasian policy of Georgia will become more flexible, cautious and subtle,” Lachin Lachinov,... MORE
Reinterpretations of Soviet History in Georgia and the Post-Soviet Space: Never-Ending Battle
On November 12, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Culture Yuri Metchitov, serving in the “Georgian Dream”–led new government, declared that Georgia should change the name of the Museum of the Soviet Occupation, opened in Tbilisi in 2006. As Metchitov stated, the museum draws the irritation of... MORE
Will Georgia Continue to Seek to Influence Eurasian Countries?
Most of the non-Russian countries in the post-Soviet space have pursued foreign policies directed at defending their interests “in the framework of a limited geographic region,” two Russian analysts say. But under President Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia has been an exception, regularly seeking to promote itself... MORE
Turkey Wants to Open a Transportation Corridor through Georgia to North Ossetia
Ankara wants to create a transportation corridor across Georgia to North Ossetia in order to establish links with regions of the Russian Federation and the states of Central Asia, Bulent Ecevit Ugur, an official of the Turkish Economics Ministry, told a meeting of the Russian-Turkish... MORE
Who Is Responsible for Distancing Georgia from NATO?
On November 11, the municipal court in Tbilisi decided to suspend the former chief of the Joint Staff of the armed forces of Georgia, General Giorgi Kalandadze, from office, having thereby satisfied the general prosecutors’ request (https://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25438). The general is charged with beatings of six... MORE
Is Georgia’s New Government Shifting the Country’s Geopolitical Course Toward Russia?
On November 1, Georgia’s new prime minister, the leader of the “Georgian Dream” coalition, Bidzina Ivanishvili, announced the creation of the position of the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Relations with Russia. He appointed Zurab Abashidze, Georgia’s ambassador to Russia in 2000–2004, to the post... MORE
Georgia Proposes to Unblock the Trans-Caucasus Railway
One of the closest associates of Georgia’s Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, State Minister for Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili, has unveiled the government’s idea to unblock the railway link that connected Russia with the South Caucasus republics in Soviet times.In an interview with the Moscow paper Kommersant... MORE
Summit of ECO Countries Brings No Change
On October 15, Baku hosted the 12th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as the prime minister of Turkey attended the event. ECO was established in 1985 as a regional, inter-state economic organization... MORE