Kavkaz

The Russo-Ukraine war, the extensive Western sanctions against Russia, and the growing possibility that European border states will block east-west transit corridors traversing Russian territory into Europe are having far-reaching implications for the landlocked countries of Central Asia, which have historically relied on road and rail corridors through Russia to …

Authorities in self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh have spoken out against the Armenian government for signaling a willingness to make concessions that would allow Azerbaijan to regain control over the territory. “Any attempt to incorporate Artsakh into Azerbaijan would lead to bloodshed and the destruction of Artsakh,” said Davit Babayan, the de facto …

he leader of Georgia’s Moscow-backed separatist region of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, says the de facto independent territory is looking to hold a referendum on joining Russia, a move Tbilisi called “unacceptable.” Bibilov said in an interview with Russian state television on March 31 that South Ossetia was holding “consultations” …

In early January 2022, Kazakhstan experienced its worst riots in recent history. Many observers argued that the riots could undermine Chinese interests in this resource-rich country. But the situation is far more complex. Over the past decade, China has emerged as an important economic player in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. …

Georgia, a former Soviet republic that suffered its own Russian invasion in 2008 and Moscow’s destabilising support for its breakaway regions, is treading carefully on the war in Ukraine, fearing that if it upsets the Kremlin, it may be left to face the consequences alone. Since the Russian attack on …

On Feb. 22, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin at what was a sensitive moment—just a day after Moscow officially recognized the independence of the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and a day before Russia launched a full-scale …

On February 22, just two days before Russian tanks and missiles started crossing the Ukrainian border, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a declaration in Moscow vowing to upgrade their bilateral relations to an allied level (Azertag, February 22). The 43-article document promotes their …

For many, Kazakhstan and Ukraine may appear to be “typical post-Soviet countries,” Vladislav Inozemtsev says. But the strategies they have adopted and the results they have achieved are radically different, with Kazakhstan’s approach far more successful than Ukraine’s in escaping from the orbit of the Soviet past. Kazakhstan’s leaders promoted …

Events of the first decade of new 2022 year in Kazakhstan clearly showed not only that the power of systemic social and political destabilizing has not extinguished yet, but also that such destructive processes got new features tailored to the country, where they have been launched. It should be noted …

The widespread violent unrest in Kazakhstan and subsequent arrival of mostly Russian troops who helped restore order last month exposed a further contest of rivals for power there between its ostensibly friendly neighbors, Russia and China. One also might wonder if Russia was taking advantage of the crisis of the …