The fallout continues over the recent public statement by Richard Miles, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, about the presence of terrorist groups in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge (see EDM, September 16). On September 21, Georgian Interior Ministry forces, in cooperation with the Security Ministry, inspected the Pankisi... MORE

The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, has weighed in on Russian media and official allegations that Georgia is harboring terrorists and thus is a possible target for preemptive strikes. Miles surprised the Georgian political establishment and reporters with critical remarks about the Georgian government's... MORE

For the first time in eleven years, the entire rail line between Moscow and Sukhumi, the capital of Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia, resumed operation on September 10. Gennady Fadeyev, chief of the state-run Russian Railway Company, participated in the ceremony, giving it an air of official... MORE

On September 13 the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, U.S. General James Jones, canceled the Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercise, which was scheduled to be held September 14-26 in Azerbaijan and involve almost 1,000 personnel from more than 20 NATO member and partner countries. The exercise... MORE

Regional analysts predict that the recent comments from Russia's top brass that Moscow will preemptively strike "terrorist bases" anywhere in the world will likely cause alarm in all neighboring countries, particularly Georgia. On September 12, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov confirmed that Russia is prepared... MORE

The existing Russian "peacekeeping" operation for Abkhazia is a legacy of the 1993 Russian military intervention in Georgia, the subsequent military advance to the Inguri River, and the ethnic cleansing of the Georgian plurality of Abkhazia's population by the Russian-backed Abkhaz minority. International organizations and... MORE

The Jamestown Foundation's recent visit to Abkhazia showed the results of a decade-long failure by international organizations and the West to initiate genuine peacekeeping and conflict-resolution efforts in the region. Back in 1994, along with the Russian "peacekeeping" deployment, the UN initiated what became known... MORE

Led by the Jamestown Foundation, a group of international analysts and journalists held in-depth talks recently in Sukhumi with self-styled "prime minister" Raul Khajimba, "minister of foreign affairs" Georgii Otyrba, and other Abkhaz representatives. The Sukhumi leaders are citizens of Russia and seem imbued with... MORE

In August, a group of international analysts and journalists led by the Jamestown Foundation visited the Georgian-South Ossetian "conflict zone" at the height of tensions fueled by Russian military activities there. The OSCE Mission contributed to the visit's success by graciously providing briefings, transport, and... MORE

Over the last two days of August, Georgian senior officials, including Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and National Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili, have vehemently denied media speculation about an impending reorganization of the leadership of the power ministries. "Such reshuffle is not planned," Bezhuashvili told... MORE