... Professor, Editor-in-Chief of the International Trends journal
Reflections in the footsteps of Victoria Nuland’s Transcaucasia tour
For several days now, the Russian media has been abuzz over what one journalist dubbed the “explosive” tour of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia taken by Victoria Nuland, whom it has referred to as assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State, but who is actually the assistant to the Under Secretary of State. Interest in Nuland is being fueled by a distorted assessment ...
... the collapse of the USSR. The main reason for this is the substantial disagreements on the matter of dividing this inland sea’s shelf and the use of its waters and natural resources.
The states took differing positions from the beginning. Thus Azerbaijan was prepared from the very start to divide not only the shelf but also the shipping area into sovereign sectors and to extract oil on the “sovereign” shelf without worrying about the consequences for this inland water space, which ...
Potential Outcomes for Transcaucasian Rearmament
Since late 1980s, Transcaucasia, the region covering Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, has intermittently been the focal point of flashpoints and low-intensity conflicts, some between the countries themselves (all of which have at times participated in combat). The latest hot conflict dates back to 2008,...
... on catching sturgeon.
According to official statements, the negotiations only made headway on environmental issues (such as conserving the sturgeon population). In addition, the “Caspian Five” (Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan) reaffirmed the principle of Caspian states’ non-interference in regional affairs.
As far as I can gather, no progress has been achieved on the main problem, i.e. agreeing spheres of influence. And without that, signing the Convention ...
... Karachay-Circassia. Security in Dagestan and Chechnya is heavily dependent on the situation in the Pankisi Gorge, and the problem of
separated peoples
, such as the Lezgin and Avar, whose ethnic communities are divided on both sides of the border between Azerbaijan and Russia, impacts both regional dynamics and the Moscow-Baku relationship.
Hence, Russia’s Transcaucasian policy is to a great extent focused on support for and the improvement of the security environment in the North Caucasus, which remains ...
... emerged asacritical component forWestern energy security policy and also becamea key player in the evolving balance of power in Eurasia, Asia and the Middle East. According to Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book ‘The Grand Chessboard’, “Azerbaijan has taken on a particular strategic value since independence, connected by pipelines to Western markets that do not pass through the territory controlled by the Russians, and would be an important channel of access for advanced economies and ...
... interests and foreign policy priorities. The emergence of independent states in the South Caucasus went hand-in-hand with attempts to advance new regional security mechanisms and new forms of international cooperation.
Analysis of bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani relations is key to understanding political developments across the post-Soviet Caucasus in all their complexity.
Azerbaijan: locked between Armenia and Georgia
Azerbaijan has a unique place in Russian policy in the Caucasus today, staying ...
One Region – Many Problems and Objectives
In 2013, the Caspian Region should be eventful, with the Fourth Caspian Summit to take place by the end of the year, and presidential elections in Iran in June and in Azerbaijan in October. In the first half of the year, Barack Obama is going to unveil his second-term regional foreign policy priorities, which will to a great extent define the situation around Iran's nuclear program and the solution of Afghan problems....
... sanctions and take the military option off the table, which is more likely after the November 6 presidential vote.
Collateral Risks for Caspian and Central Asian Countries
Photo: Field "Shah Deniz" in the Caspian,
developed in partnership BP-Azerbaijan, SOCAR
Azerbaijan, «LUKOIL», «NICO» and «Total»
With the threat of a military conflict over Iran growing, there is a heightened need for risk forecasting in Russia and Caspian states, which definitely have ...
