Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
The South Caucasus: New Realities After the Armenia-Azerbaijan War (Part One)
The Second Karabakh War (September 27–November 9, 2020) has resulted in an Azerbaijani national triumph, a self-inflicted Armenian trauma, geopolitical gains for Russia, another debacle of Western diplomacy, and Turkey’s reassertion as a regional power in the South Caucasus. The significance of Azerbaijan’s military victory... MORE
5G Technologies in Latvia Advance Military Capabilities and National Economy
In mid-November, Latvian officials inaugurated a 5G test site at the Ādaži military base, near Riga. The facility is the first of its kind not only in Latvia but throughout Europe. The 5G testing area will provide an opportunity for Latvian and allied armed forces... MORE
Ukrainian-UK Defense Cooperation: Will London Have Kyiv’s Back?
On October 7, in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was paying an official visit to the United Kingdom, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Andriy Taran and the UK’s Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace signed a memorandum on enhancing bilateral cooperation in the... MORE
Iran Rapidly Expanding Rail Links With Central Asia and Caucasus
The United States and other Western countries have worked long and hard to marginalize Iran as punishment for its transgressions on the international stage. Nevertheless, Iran’s neighbors as well as states further out, including Russia, China and the Central Asian republics, understand that their plans... MORE
Azerbaijan Demands Compensation From Armenia for Destruction of Previously Occupied Territories
On November 11, a day after he signed the trilateral accord with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ending the Second Karabakh War, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared that “almost 99 percent of the liberated territories had been destroyed” (Azernews,... MORE
Despite Construction Work Restart, Nord Stream Two Remains in Limbo
On December 11, project operator Nord Stream 2 AG restarted construction work on the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline after an almost year-long break. This development, however, does not mean that completion of the 55 billion cubic meter (bcm) gas transit line expansion is... MORE
Deepening Leadership Confusion Exacerbates Russia’s Multiple Crises
The scale of the complex disaster in Russia caused by the escalating COVID-19 pandemic becomes clearer with the incessant stream of bad news coming out of the country, even if official propaganda is strictly economical with the truth. Reports about a new test of the... MORE
Afghanistan and Desire for Closer Relations Top Agenda of US-Uzbekistan Meeting
The Eighth Annual Bilateral Consultations between Uzbekistan and the United States were held in Washington on November 15–22 (The Tashkent Times, November 22). Tashkent had two main goals for these high-level talks. First, it sought to reconfirm Uzbekistan’s foreign policy of maintaining equally favorable relations... MORE
Russia’s ‘Peacekeeping’ Operation in Karabakh: Foundation of a Russian Protectorate (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Russian troops deployed to Upper (“Nagorno”) Karabakh exceed by far the number stipulated in the November 9 armistice agreement (see EDM, November 12, 13) due to the additional deployment of Russia’s Humanitarian Response Center personnel. This supplementary manpower... MORE
Moscow Concerned About Turkish Influence on the Gagauz
Turkey’s success in the South Caucasus is echoing across the former Soviet space as well as inside the Russian Federation itself; and not surprisingly, Moscow is worried. Azerbaijan is now openly an ally of Turkey and has Turkish military forces on its territory, something Russia... MORE