Latest Articles about South Caucasus
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Seek to Expand Cooperation on Caspian Energy Production
A 30-year feud over an offshore oil field located between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea has finally come to an end. In mid-January 2021, Ashgabat and Baku agreed to the joint development of the large field, now renamed Dostlug, which means "Friendship" in... MORE
Russian ‘Peacekeeping’ in Karabakh: Old Model, New Features, Mission Creep (Part Three)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh was the only Soviet-legacy conflict that did not feature Russian “peacekeeping” troops during the 26-year period between the first armistice, in 1994, and the latest armistice,... MORE
Nakhchivan Corridor: Implications for Georgia and Iran
The January 11 trilateral meeting, in Moscow, of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev focused on the unblocking and development of regional transport corridors in accordance with the Russia-brokered November 9/10 truce accord that ended the 44-day... MORE
Russian ‘Peacekeeping’ in Karabakh: Old Model, New Features, Mission Creep (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Under the November 9–10, 2020 armistice declaration, Russia’s “peacekeeping” mission in Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh is limited to 1,960 motor-rifle troops with light weapons and armored personnel carriers (see EDM, November 12, 13, 2020). According to Russian President Vladimir Putin,... MORE
Russian ‘Peacekeeping’ in Karabakh: Old Model, New Features, Mission Creep (Part One)
Russia’s “peacekeeping” operation in Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh, which ended the 44-day war last November, is laying the foundation of a Russian protectorate in this Armenian-inhabited territory of Azerbaijan (see EDM, December 8, 10, 2020). This undertaking shows some familiar features of Russia’s earlier “peacekeeping” model... MORE
Karabakh Victory Transforming Meaning of Black January for Many Azerbaijanis
Moscow’s brutal dispatch of more than 35,000 Soviet troops into Azerbaijan in January 1990— nominally to defend the Armenian minority there but in fact to block moves toward that republic’s independence—remains a deep wound in its national life. The Azerbaijanis to this day refer to... MORE
Year 2020 in Review: The Scorched-Earth Political Strategy of the Pro-Russian Ex-President Dodon
In a recent interview, the Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that Moldova’s president Maia Sandu had more than enough domestic challenges demanding her attention than requesting the withdrawal of Russian military forces from the Transnistrian region (Newsmaker.md, January 5; Newsmaker.md, November 30, 2020). This... MORE
Azerbaijan’s Gas Reaches Europe
On December 31, 2020, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) delivered its first volumes of natural gas from the Shah Deniz field off the Caspian coast of Azerbaijan to Greece and Bulgaria. The 2,175-miles-long pipeline is the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) that connects... MORE
Vitaly Balasanian, Karabakh’s Strongman-in-Waiting
The unrecognized Karabakh republic (“Artsakh” to Armenians), a militarized proto-state, seems headed for leadership change. Following its defeat (shared with Armenia) by Azerbaijan in the recent 44-day war, Karabakh’s so-called president, Araiyk Harutiunian, announced his intention to resign and quit politics as soon as a... MORE
Putin Exercises Free Hand in South Caucasus
Over the past several weeks, the United States has been preoccupied with the ongoing transition of power in the White House, a riot in the Capitol and a second impeachment of outgoing President Donald Trump (see EDM, January 7, 2021). As a result, Washington’s focus... MORE