Decision Time for Central Asia: Russia or China?
Vladimir Putin’s vision of an expanded Eurasian Customs Union poses a dilemma for Central Asia’s former Soviet republics – do they privilege their relations with Russia or deepen their ties with China?...
View ArticleU.S. Concerned About Pakistani Nuke Security, Secret Budget Reveals
U.S. intelligence officials are far more worried about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and materials than the government has publicly admitted, according to a report on the secret budget for...
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War in Syria Has Reverberations in the North Caucasus
On September 20, the first deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Sergei Smirnov estimated that 300-400 Russian citizens are participating in the conflict in Syria. “They will come back...
View ArticleUkraine truce collapses, 73 dead in fresh clashes
KIEV, Ukraine — At least 20 protesters were killed Thursday morning as gunfire rang out in central Kiev, breaking the shaky truce reached between President Victor Yanukovich and opposition leaders the...
View ArticleThe Islamic State Threat in Central Asia: Reality or Spin?
By: Ryskeldi Satke, Casey Michel, Sertaç Canalp Korkmaz Screengrab of Kazakh militants fighting in Syria (Source: RFE/RL) The threat of Islamist radicalism in the former Soviet republics of Central...
View ArticleRussia Threatens Georgia With Renewed Trade War
The Russian government regularly uses its agency for consumer protection, Rospotrebnadzor, for trade discrimination and blocking imports from countries whose policies Moscow does not like (see EDM,...
View ArticleIs the Islamic State a Threat to the Security of the Republic of Georgia?
On November 29, authorities in Tbilisi, Georgia, arrested four people accused of being connected to the Islamic State (IS) organization. Weapons, explosive devices, IS flags, and Islamist literature on...
View ArticleThe South Caucasus in the Shadow of the Russian-Turkish Crisis
As Konrad Zasztowt sees it, the recent standoff between Russia and Turkey over Syria is rattling the South Caucasus region. The two nations’ weakening economic ties, for example, are starting to...
View ArticleGeorgian Political Field Fragments Ahead of the 2016 Parliamentary Elections
Georgian politics rarely lacks drama or signs of fragmentation, but the much-anticipated recent arrival of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned Georgian operatic bass, to the political stage has added a...
View ArticleIn Courting Iran, Russia Seeks Politically Safe Foreign Investment for the...
On April 11–16, representatives of an Iranian investment company, Hamrahian Group, visited Dagestan to explore possibilities for cooperation with the North Caucasian republic. The visit came just weeks...
View ArticleVolga Tatars in Iran Being Turkmenified
Many observers are aware that ethnic Azerbaijanis constitute more than a quarter of the population of Iran, but fewer have taken note of the fact that other Turkic groups from the Russian Empire, the...
View ArticleBeijing Encroaching on Moscow’s Military Dominance in Tajikistan
China has unexpectedly begun taking steps to become more militarily active in the small Central Asian republic of Tajikistan. Moreover, it is pushing for closer joint military and security cooperation...
View ArticleMoldova’s Democratic Façade Crumbles as Supreme Court Invalidates Democratic...
Jamestown: On June 25, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Moldova denied opposition candidate Andrei Nastase (leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform Party) legal recourse, thus upholding the June...
View ArticleImplementing a Security Strategy for Georgia
NOAC Full Article Here This article focuses on defence and security issues on the one hand and, on the other hand, on the related questions of the economy, trade and energy. These are two of the four...
View ArticleTurkey ups the pressure and forces Russia into swift action
Due to Turkey’s involvement with Nagorno-Karabakh, Libya, and Syria this year, Russia has begun targeting strikes in the Idlib region of Syria. The most recent was October twenty-sixth this year, when...
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