The imperfect congruence of ethnic and political borders in the South Caucasus is the primary cause of the long-running conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But it is also a major reason why both the participants in that fight as well as outside powers routinely focus... MORE

Georgia will hold parliamentary elections on October 31. The country’s citizens will be electing their tenth national legislature since independence, proclaimed in 1991. This weekend’s elections will be the first held under the newly modified constitutional framework, with 120 members of parliament (MP) elected via... MORE

Ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran, who dominate the northwest quadrant of that country and by some estimates make up a quarter to nearly half of the overall population, have been energized by Azerbaijan’s military advances into Armenian-occupied Karabakh. They are holding rallies throughout northwestern Iran and... MORE

The geopolitical and geo-economic impact of the three-decades-old Karabakh conflict on the stability of the broader South Caucasus is clear and broadly recognized. Given the importance of the South Caucasus as a transcontinental energy corridor, any intraregional instability or periodic flare-ups in violence there pose... MORE

On the morning of September 27, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense announced that Armenian forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan had attempted to attack Azerbaijani the positions; in response, Baku launched a large-scale counter-offensive up and down the Line of Contact (LoC) in Karabakh. Within... MORE

On July 29, the Russian government issued an order concerning plans for the development of federal transport, railway, information and communications infrastructure that includes the construction of Port Lagan, in the Republic of Kalmykia (Portnews.ru, August 3). The idea to establish a port in Kalmykia... MORE

During the fierce clashes along the Karabakh front, which erupted on September 27, Azerbaijan demonstrated advanced drone warfare capabilities, showcasing its defense-technological edge over Armenian forces. Interestingly, the Azerbaijani drone campaign strongly resembled Turkey’s Operation Spring Shield against the Syrian Arab Army back in early... MORE

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has framed the ongoing Karabakh hostilities as a “civilizational frontline” clash (Facebook.com/nikol.pashinyan, October 1). The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Karabakh region and surrounding provinces erupted again on September 27, resulting in the heaviest violence there since the... MORE

Wars often begin suddenly, but they rarely end that way, even when the sides commit to immediately laying down arms. That is especially true in the case of ceasefires where far from all the parameters have been defined and where some on each side will... MORE

The resumption of Azerbaijani-Armenian hostilities over the Karabakh region, located only 560 kilometers from Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi, has raised concerns within the Georgian government about the consequences of this conflict for the country, which faces tough parliamentary elections on October 31. On October 3,... MORE