During six weeks of intense fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces which erupted on September 27 over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, it is estimated that up to 5,000 lives were lost. As many as 100,000 civilians were displaced. The ceasefire brokered this week by Russia has to be welcomed as preventing further escalation and suffering…
A Russian mediated-ceasefire in the Caucasus cements a Turkish-backed Azerbaijani military defeat of Armenia but raises tantalizing questions. Spontaneous mass protests against the terms of the ceasefire and the government’s conduct of the war potentially throw into doubt the future of Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan and Armenia’s ability to implement the ceasefire. The protests also…
“The Caucasus is Ground Zero in the New Cold War between the U.S. and Russia.” I wrote that several years ago, and it’s still true, particularly after Armenia decisively repulsed a mid-July attack by Azerbaijan. Perhaps dozens of Azeris died in the battles, including a major-general, colonel, and two majors. Armenia reported far fewer deaths…
No two “color revolutions” have been the same, although the anatomy may bear similarity. This explains why Russia continues to face a problem in calibrating its response to emerging revolutionary tides in its backyard. Russia fumbled in Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004 and 2014), but digested the ‘color revolutions’ in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and 2010….
After a gap of three years since the regime changed in Ukraine in February 2015, another color revolution is unfolding in yet another former Soviet republic in the Caucasus – in Armenia. A popular uprising demanding democratic change and economic opportunities is rising to a crescendo in Armenia. The western media has tentatively named it…
A well-known Kremlin insider has voiced worried concern about Armenia’s participation in several NATO drills lately, signaling that Yerevan might be in the process of a pro-Western pivot which would have very destabilizing consequences for the Caucasus. Markov, The Man Behind The Scenes Sergey Markov is the chairman of Russia’s National Strategic Council and accordingly…
