Latest Articles about South Caucasus

WILL ASYMMETRICAL FEDERALISM WORK FOR ABKHAZIA?

The Georgian government has crafted a new framework to facilitate the reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia into the Georgian state. A special blueprint drafted by the National Security Council reportedly proposes an asymmetric federation with an unprecedented degree of sovereignty for Abkhazia. Giorgi Khaindrava,... MORE

MOSCOW THREATENS GEORGIA AS BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT NEARS

Testing the West's collective credibility, Russia is again fabricating pretexts for possible military action on Georgian territory, ostensibly to go after "Chechen and international terrorists" in the Pankisi Gorge. This latest cycle of threats is more dangerous than previous ones because Moscow has just dictated... MORE

RIVAL GEORGIAN MINISTERS CROSS SWORDS

Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was forced to mediate between two bickering members of his government. Ultimately, Saakashvili reached a temporary truce in the standoff between Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and his predecessor, Gia Baramidze, currently State Minister for European Integration. Baramidze had replaced... MORE

DEFENSE MINISTER TARGETS CORRUPTION IN GEORGIAN MILITARY

Irakli Okruashvili, Georgia's Minister of Defense has alleged the continued existence of widespread corruption within the military. On January 4, he named senior Ministry of Defense officials, whom he said were involved in misappropriating funds, and set the target of seeing them imprisoned within one... MORE

OPPOSITION LEADER RESIGNS IN ATTEMPT TO RE-ENERGIZE AZERI POLITICS

Etibar Mammadov, the long-time chairman of the Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP) and one of the most influential opposition leaders in Azerbaijan, announced his resignation from his party position on December 24. His decision came as a surprise not only to other political parties, but... MORE

ARMENIA TO DEPLOY TOKEN CONTINGENT TO IRAQ

On December 24, the Armenian parliament approved a symbolic deployment of Armenian military personnel as part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. The vote was 91-23, with one abstention, after a seven-hour closed session late into the night. A last-hour switch by the opposition National... MORE

NEW GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE STABILITY, CONSISTENCY

After last week's intense media speculation, yesterday Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced an overhaul of key ministries. That same day, December 14, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced the structural and personnel reorganization planned for the rest of the ministries. "We are doing this to make... MORE

MEDIA SPECULATION RISES ABOUT GEORGIAN MINISTERIAL CHANGES

After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania made statements that pointed toward a forthcoming reorganization.... MORE