The victory by the Georgian Dream (GD) opposition coalition in the parliamentary elections on October 1 has surprised outside observers. According to the latest official results after practically all votes were counted by the Central Election Commission, the GD, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, received... MORE

The final results of the Georgian parliamentary elections were not announced yet when President Mikhail Saakashvili conceded that his party lost the majority of the vote; Bidzina Ivaanishvili has begun talks about forming a government and suggested that Saakashvili resign as president to preclude a... MORE

The latest top-level meeting of the oldest post-Soviet grouping, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), pledged to enact their free trade arrangements next year. However, the CIS free trade zone (FTZ) agreement has not been ratified by some signatory nations, while other CIS member states... MORE

With the approach of parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 1, the intensity of political struggle in the country is increasing. The Georgian elections are a historical opportunity for the country to make a political transition via democratic elections. Until now, leaders have come to... MORE

Russia is staging a number of military exercises in September and October as part of the training year for its Armed Forces, designed to road test elements of its ongoing conventional forces reform, promote defense cooperation and strengthen the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Although... MORE

The Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP) for Caspian gas to Europe seems set to grow in scope and strategic ambitions. The line is planned to run from the Georgia-Turkey border to the Turkey–European Union border. The project’s initiator, Azerbaijan, is driving its growth in... MORE

Turkey is revisiting the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project after a decade-long hiatus. Ankara is now aligning with the European Union, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, supporting the transportation of Turkmenistan’s gas to Turkey and onward to Europe. Ten years ago, Turkey failed to capitalize on the first... MORE

A Georgian news agency surprised everybody on August 28 with the announcement that the country’s armed forces had launched a special operation against an armed group near the Russian-Georgian border. It was presumed that the armed group had crossed from Russia into Georgia in the... MORE

Following a summer lull, August 2012 became one of the most eventful periods for Azerbaijani politics, featuring several key developments, which may significantly affect the situation in the region. First, after several months of negotiations and numerous visits of Russian delegations to Azerbaijan, it became... MORE

Echoing Ronald Reagan’s 1980 election campaign theme, Georgia’s governing United National Movement (UNM) tells voters to “ask  [themselves] a very simple question:  Is Georgia now a better country than it was eight years ago? And if the answer is positive and if we want to... MORE