Executive Summary: Azerbaijan has pursued proactive diplomacy to strengthen its role as a transit hub since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, especially with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Transit through Azerbaijan offers a sanction-free, resilient, and stable environment to facilitate... MORE

April 2024–September 2025: Between April 2024 and September 2025, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party enacted illiberal laws, held parliamentary elections marked by voter pressure and Russian manipulation, violently suppressed resulting protests, and suspended EU accession talks. Georgian autocratization triggered Western sanctions and diplomatic fallout as... MORE

Executive Summary: Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have degenerated over the past several months, but until recently, the two countries aimed to keep the crisis under control. Moscow’s aggressive rhetoric regarding Baku has turned into action, including the bombing of Azerbaijani oil depots in Ukraine.... MORE

Executive Summary: According to a recent study by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), re-exports of cars from Georgia are at a historic high, with light vehicles worth $1.2 billion exported in the first six months of 2025. Since 2021, car re-exports... MORE

Executive Summary: The recent peace declaration between Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8—mediated by the United States—has stirred great interest in Georgia, as it signals an increased Western presence in the South Caucasus. The ruling Georgian Dream party has sought to convince the West that,... MORE

The Caspian Sea, once considered a “Russian lake,” is becoming a more multipolar space. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan have expanded their navies, built new security accords with each other, and increased cooperation with Türkiye. Russia has responded with naval cooperation with Iran, but this alliance... MORE

Three decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan have consumed most of their attention on both domestic initiatives and international relations. The unfolding peace process, therefore, has the potential to dramatically change political developments in the South Caucasus. Direct talks over the past two years... MORE

Executive Summary: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and U.S. President Donald Trump signed a seven-point joint pledge declaring their intention to pursue peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia during an August 8 meeting at the White House.  During the same trip, the... MORE

Executive Summary: Tensions linger between Armenia and Azerbaijan over a proposed transit route, better known to many as the Zangezur Corridor, through Armenia that would restore a Soviet-era connection between Azerbaijan and its exclave of Nakhchivan. Reports alleging that the United States had proposed that... MORE

Executive Summary: A series of investigations and arrests across Eurasia has revealed a rise in international call center fraud operations, underscoring the increasingly transnational nature of cybercrime in the region. Russian-language cybercrime has historically avoided targeting Russia or members of the Commonwealth of Independent States,... MORE