Latest Articles about South Caucasus
WAR OF WORDS INTENSIFIES BETWEEN ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER AND PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
Armenia's governing coalition has been thrust into fresh turmoil by a bitter row between two of the three political parties represented in it. The row between the Republican Party (HHK) of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian and the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party led by... MORE
COMPETING THEORIES ABOUT ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION IN ABKHAZIA
Alexander Ankvab, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia in Georgia, narrowly escaped death late on February 28 when still-unidentified assailants shot at his motorcade. Ankvab and his entourage were heading from the capital, Sukhumi, north toward Gudauta. The gunmen were waiting to ambush... MORE
SPECULATION ON PIPELINE SALE TO GAZPROM DETRIMENTAL TO GEORGIA’S INTERESTS
A flurry of statements by Georgian officials in recent days suggests that Tbilisi is once again considering the high-risk proposition of selling the country's gas transportation system to Russia's monopoly Gazprom. The idea is deeply controversial in Georgia's decision-making circles. The individuals pushing for such... MORE
GEORGIA, MOLDOVA, BALTICS FIGURE ON SIDELINES OF BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT
Russia's military and political pressures on Georgia, Moldova, and the Baltic states figured prominently in discussions on the eve and the sidelines of the Bush-Putin summit in Bratislava, but there was no indication that U.S. President George W. Bush raised those issues in his meeting... MORE
NEW SURVEY IN AZERBAIJAN SHOWS RISING INFLUENCE OF ISLAM
While local and international analysts continue to debate the pluses and minuses of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev's January trip to Iran, the non-governmental research organization Far Center, based in Baku has released the results of its recent survey on religious freedom in the country. The... MORE
LITTLE TO SHOW FROM FIRST YEAR OF GEORGIAN ARMY REFORM
Last week two events highlighted the unstable situation in the Georgian armed forces. The army's supreme command shuffled its top personnel yet again and "Justice and Freedom," a military watchdog group, released a report criticizing the government's performance in the field of defense from January... MORE
TIME SHORT, OPTIONS NARROWING, CALL NEEDED FOR A NEW GEORGIA BMO
Two months after Russia killed the OSCE's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) -- and many months after Moscow had served advance notice of that move -- Georgia's Western partners are still bogged down in inconsequential talk about organizing a substitute operation. Only two months remain... MORE
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT PRESSED TO REIN-IN LAWLESS OLIGARCHS
The Armenian authorities have been under domestic pressure in recent weeks to end what many see as the virtual impunity enjoyed by the country's tiny class of millionaire businessmen with close government ties. The Armenian version of post-Soviet "oligarchs" are widely hated -- and feared... MORE
GEORGIA UNDER GROWING RUSSIAN PRESSURE AHEAD OF BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov's imminent visit to Tbilisi appears designed for Washington's consumption ahead of the George W. Bush-Vladimir Putin summit on February 24. Moscow wishes to avoid discussion of its ongoing threats to Georgia during the summit. Lavrov may briefly put... MORE
GEORGIA’S NEW PRIME MINISTER COMES FROM ZHVANIA’S TEAM
The mysterious death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania did not trigger an immediate political crisis as feared, but the incident has drawn additional attention to the continuing backstage discord in the ruling party. President Mikheil Saakashvili had to take this intra-party drama into consideration... MORE