Latest Articles about South Caucasus
RUSSIA TAKES INITIATIVE IN INTERNATIONAL PUSH FOR KARABAKH PEACE
Russia has taken the center stage in international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict, which could yield a breakthrough before the end of this year. President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to host a potentially decisive meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts next month. Moscow... MORE
OFFICIALS WARN OF A POSSIBLE RUSSIA-GEORGIA WAR IN THE FUTURE
The withdrawal of Russian soldiers two weeks ago from the so-called "buffer security zones" around Georgia’s breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia did not stabilize the situation. The buffer zone around South Ossetia, occupied by Russian troops during the war with Georgia last August,... MORE
CFE TREATY DEAD AND BURIED IN GEORGIA
Since December 2007, Russia has officially “suspended its compliance” with the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE, signed in 1990 and adapted in 1999). The “suspension” has dealt the coup de grace to a treaty that Russia was already breaching on multiple counts for... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A NATIONAL MANDATE FOR POLICY CONTINUITY
The final returns of Azerbaijan’s October 15 presidential election, released by the Central Electoral Commission, show President Ilham Aliyev winning reelection for another five-year term with 88.7 percent of the votes cast. Six other candidates received between 2.86 and 0.65 percent each. Nearly 76 percent... MORE
MOSCOW PROVIDES FEW DETAILS ON SOUTH OSSETIA BOMBING
At 4:45 P.M. on Friday, October 3, a powerful car bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. Although the casualty figures cited in the initial reports varied from six to 11,... MORE
RUSSIAN TACTICS DERAIL GENEVA TALKS ON ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA
International discussions on security and stability arrangements in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia, were launched at the Palace of Nations in Geneva on October 15. The process is expected to be a long one, but it adjourned on the first day amid disagreement about how... MORE
RUSSIA DISCARDS ITS “PEACEKEEPING” OPERATION IN ABKHAZIA
At the CIS summit in Bishkek on October 9 and 10, Russia announced the termination of the “CIS collective peacekeeping operation in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone.” Moscow describes its move as a common decision of the assembled heads of state and government, in a final... MORE
ARMENIA, GEORGIA TO BOOST ECONOMIC TIES AFTER SOUTH OSSETIA WAR
Armenia and Georgia have pledged to strengthen their commercial and other links in hopes of overcoming the negative economic consequences facing both South Caucasus states after the recent Russian-Georgian war. Tbilisi has also officially expressed its overall satisfaction with Yerevan’s neutrality in the conflict. Armenia,... MORE
ARMENIA IN NEED OF AN ALTERNATIVE EXPORT-IMPORT ROUTE
Although talks of establishing security in the Caucasus had been underway for months, the crisis in Georgia underscored a sense of urgency at the September 26 trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Eduard Nalbandian, Ali Babacan, and Elmar Mammadyarov met... MORE
RUSSIA STILL SEEKING A UN CAMOUFLAGE IN ABKHAZIA
The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the UN itself are collateral casualties of Russia’s invasion of Georgia and “recognition of Abkhazia’s independence.” The diplomatic negotiating process, which is scheduled to open on October 15 in Geneva, may well see UNOMIG’s demise and,... MORE