Executive Summary: Tensions between Russia and the West in the Arctic have risen dramatically, as Moscow condemns both Washington’s claims on the Arctic and increased US military activity. The Kremlin is considering denouncing the 1990 Baker-Shevardnadze agreement and insisting on its own right to make... MORE

Executive Summary: New developments in the South Caucasus have opened a window for possible long-term rapprochement between Iran and Azerbaijan, especially on trade and transit matters. Baku seeks increased regional stability amid tense peace negotiations with Armenia and a falling out with some Western countries... MORE

Executive Summary: Belarus plays an essential geostrategic role in the logistical transport networks between Asia and Europe through the “Northern Corridor,” which passes through Russia and Belarus. Although Western sanctions due to the war in Ukraine have negatively affected the volume of transport through the... MORE

Executive Summary: Moscow is being forced to postpone and effectively cancel some of its highest-priority transportation projects in the Russian North due to its war against Ukraine. These moves limit Russia’s ability to extract and export natural resources and support the Northern Sea Route, even... MORE

Executive Summary: Moscow seeks to boost its struggling economy through increased development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as a real competitor to the Suez Canal and the Bosphorus Strait. Moscow wants the INSTC to open pathways to new markets that circumvent Western monitoring... MORE

Executive Summary: Frustrations in Baku, Yerevan, and Moscow are growing over delays in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace negotiations, as key differences remain on unblocking regional transit corridors. Azerbaijan remains committed to opening the Zangezur Corridor, while the Kremlin calls for Russian border guards to oversee administration of... MORE

Executive Summary: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proposed a new constitution to address matters of external security and territorial integrity, which continue to hold up peace negotiations between Baku and Yerevan. Azerbaijan and Armenia have expressed the necessity of unambiguously recognizing one another’s sovereignty... MORE

In December 2023, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash announced that Iran and Azerbaijan would sign an official agreement on the development and opening of the Aras Corridor (Trend.az, December 18, 2023). Bazrpash stated that development of the corridor will begin with... MORE

Over the past month, as many as ten forced landings of civilian aircraft have taken place in Russia. The most serious of these happened over the past week. On December 7, a fire on board an Aeroflot Airlines Boeing 777 forced the aircraft to make... MORE

The Caspian Sea is in danger of drying up. On June 7, government officials in the coastal city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, released a statement declaring a natural state of emergency for the maritime industry due to the sea’s low water levels (Facebook.com/Aktau_Press, June 7; Eurasianet,... MORE