Latest Articles about South Caucasus
Gazprom Counters Nabucco’s Advancement by Lobbying for South Stream
Russia’s Gazprom has proposed to the German RWE company to join Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline project. According to German business press reports, Gazprom Vice-President, Aleksandr Medvedev, has approached senior RWE management with this proposal. RWE, however, is a stakeholder in the EU-backed Nabucco project. Gazprom’s... MORE
Lavrov Hints at Fomenting Ethnic Tensions Inside Georgia
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has outlined a revised and updated policy of regime change towards Georgia. Interviewed on July 8 by the Mir television channel, Lavrov raised the possibility of fomenting tensions among the Armenian and Azeri ethnic minorities inside Georgia. Lavrov urged Georgia... MORE
Will Clinton’s Baku Visit Produce Deliverables in Washington? (Part Two)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s introductory visit to Azerbaijan undoubtedly helped the Obama administration to form a clearer understanding of Azerbaijan’s priorities and policies. With the administration approaching its mid-term point, and the US ambassadorship in Baku still vacant, such clarifications were overdue. President, Ilham... MORE
Clinton Follows Gates in Fence Mending Visit to Azerbaijan (Part One)
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Azerbaijan on July 4 as part of a tour of the South Caucasus. Her schedule apparently allocated a mere half-day for official business in each of the three capitals, contributing to perceptions of this regional tour as perfunctory.... MORE
Clinton in Georgia: Precious Few Deliverables
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, paid a six-hour visit to Georgia on July 5, as part of a tour of five countries in five days. Her Georgia visit was the first by a top US official since Vice-President, Joseph Biden, visited exactly one year... MORE
Interest Surging in Azerbaijani Gas (Part Two)
International demand for Azeri gas (EDM, July 1) is also rising outside the European Union. It is mostly driven by the anticipation of post-crisis industrial recovery and by considerations of supply security through diversification.Russia’s Gazprom is preparing in its own way for Europe’s post-crisis recovery.... MORE
Interest Surging in Azerbaijani Gas
Demand for Azerbaijani natural gas is surging, with potential buyers scrambling to Baku. The gas transit agreements, signed by Azerbaijan and Turkey on June 7, have opened prospects for unimpeded transportation of Azeri gas to consumer countries via Georgia and Turkey. These agreements, and consequent... MORE
Is Part of the Georgian Opposition Financed by Georgian Organized Crime?
On June 22, the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau published an article by Andreas Förster entitled “Georgian Mafia Planned a Coup,” in which it was stated that part of the Georgian political opposition received funds from Georgian organized crime networks in Europe to foment unrest in... MORE
Turkish-Azeri Deal May Herald New Competition in Southern Corridor
On the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit held in Istanbul, Turkey and Azerbaijan concluded agreements on natural gas cooperation. On June 7, during a ceremony attended by Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Recep Erdogan, Azeri President, Ilham... MORE
Iran’s Nuclear Crisis Causes Unease in Armenia
Armenia is watching, with unease, the latest developments in neighboring Iran’s standoff with the international community over its controversial nuclear program. The new, harsher sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Tehran last week raise fresh questions over the growing Armenian-Iranian economic ties which... MORE