The nomination and approval of John Kerry as the next head of the US Department of State did not come as a particular shock for observers inside Azerbaijan. The predictions and rumors prepared both the Azerbaijani establishment and the public for such a scenario. Still,... MORE

At a specially convened press conference, the State Minister for Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili announced that the government approved a bill on making significant amendments to the Law on Occupied Territories, which is often referred to as “the Law on Occupation” (https://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25727). This legislation (https://www.smr.gov.ge/docs/doc216.pdf) was... MORE

Iran has accepted Kazakhstan’s offer to host the next round of its nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 group (all five permanent United Nations Security Council members and Germany) (Trend, February 4). Citing a desire to reduce regional tensions and avert an escalation of the nuclear... MORE

Russian authorities reiterated, on January 22, pledges of increased economic engagement with Central Asia. The foreign ministry advocated plans to develop economic and trade ties with the region, while other officials urged the creation of a Russian state corporation that would encourage economic development there... MORE

Since the beginning of the New Year, fears of a dangerous border conflict have returned to haunt India and Pakistan as a spate of ceasefire violations and terrorist incursions continue to take place at the Line of Control (LoC) border between Indian and Pakistani-held Kashmir.... MORE

On January 17, during his visit to Armenia, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili stated that “Armenia provides a good example for Georgia, and it can be a source of envy in a positive sense,” for managing to have good relations with Russia and at the... MORE

According to Russian diplomatic sources, during a meeting last weekend in Munich on the sidelines of the annual international security conference, United States Vice President Joseph Biden assured Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington wants to put bilateral relations “back on track” after a... MORE

The issue of Georgia’s possible return to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and its participation in other post-Soviet space organizations became topical after the January 29 statement of the head of the CIS Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Yevdokimov, about “contacts” with... MORE

“Money loves quiet,” Kyrgyzstan’s President Almaz Atambayev once stated, stressing the need for a better investment climate amid occasional instability plaguing the aspiring democracy, which boasts Central Asia’s first parliamentary system of government (www.members.vb.kg, February 18, 2011).Atambayev, who gained a six-year term in 2011 in... MORE

The traditional Munich security conference had a particular and very different meaning last weekend for US Vice President Joseph Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had an hour-long face-to-face meeting in addition to delivering their keynote speeches. Biden had good reason to be... MORE