Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
North Caucasians May Turn Into Third-Class Citizens in Russia
A Russian publication has alleged that the “Stop Feeding the Caucasus!” slogan, which is popular among ethnic Russians, was invented by Vladimir Putin’s enemies to undermine his authority and ultimately destroy him politically. This is an unusual attempt to construct a collective identity of all citizens of Russia. The “enemies of Putin”...
Yerevan Electricity Protests Reach Climax
Protests in Yerevan and other Armenian cities have persisted for over a week, following the state regulatory commission’s June 17 decision about increasing the electricity fee from August 1. As previously suggested (see EDM, June 12), the commission decided upon a smaller fee increase than Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) management had...
France Is Prepared to Supply Advanced Air Defense Infrastructure to Georgia
On June 15, during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, where important deals for arms supplies are often agreed, Georgia signed its first ever large contract with France on supplies of defense military equipment (Civil Georgia, June 16). The description of the equipment is quite unclear, since no one, with the exception of a narrow circle of...
Russia’s Bankrupting Empire
Following the June 22 decision by the European Union to extend its sanctions on Russia for another six months, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev soberly declared two days later that the country’s faltering economy would force the government in Moscow to make some difficult choices regarding meeting its spending commitments. Citing the...
Kremlin Opens New Phase in Its War Against Ukraine
Moscow is growing impatient with Ukraine’s unwillingness to legalize the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” and rewrite Ukraine’s constitution to their and Moscow’s satisfaction. The Minsk Two armistice, imposed on Ukraine on February 12, envisages that political process to be completed by December of this year...
Belarusian Identity and Rapprochement With the West
Not too long ago, Belarusian identity used to be a topic of purely academic interest. But today, publications devoted to this subject appear like from a horn of plenty. Not only do they show up frequently (see EDM, June 18, for two earlier examples), they are often intended for a lay audience. Clearly, such musings are the result of the crisis in...
Erdogan and Putin Meet in Baku: Will the Balance of Power Change in the South Caucasus?
After years of preparations, Azerbaijan is hosting the first ever European Games, which kicked off on June 12 and will end on June 28. Besides being a high-profile international sporting event, the Games also serve as an important symbol for Azerbaijan to prove its ties to the European community of states (Cbc.az, May 26). The opening ceremony of...
A Defensive Posture and a Feeling of Threat Prevail in Both Moscow and Brussels
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently committed much time and effort to, on the one hand, intimidate and, on the other, to coax the Western public, businessmen and potential investors into accepting Russia as a benign power that is simply defending its national interests. Putin announced that, in 2015, Russia will procure “40 new...
Iran-Armenia Railway Project Remains Controversial
Discussions surrounding the proposed Iran-Armenia railway project have intensified in early June, after a statement made by Russian Railways’ CEO, Vladimir Yakunin, who said that the project would not be expedient: “It is like opening a window to nowhere, to the wall of a neighboring building” (Arminfo.info, June 8). Armenian officials had...
Moscow Reluctant to Permit Cooperation between Crimea and the North Caucasus
Following last year’s annexation of Crimea, Russia’s initial tactic was to propagate multiple connections between the people on the peninsula and the country’s population. A year later, North Caucasian activists say that the Russian government is insulating Crimea from the North Caucasus and preventing the two regions from...
