Politics, security and defense analysis

  A study of the failures of Russian foreign policy in Georgia The history of Georgia since independence can serve as a demonstration of every Russian method of exercising power in the Near Abroad. [1] Georgia has been a victim of Russian-backed separatism, misinformation campaigns, invasion, and partial occupation. Despite this, Georgia proper has remained outside of the Russian sphere. This serves as the first puzzle of modern Georgia: why have all Russian methods of influence exertion failed, while countries have stayed in the Russian sphere with far less meddling from Russia? It is easy to divide Georgia since independence into two periods, one before the Rose Revolution in late 2003 and one after. The Russian view of the Rose Revolution is as a pro-western foreign-planned coup. [2] This misses a very important point, which is that Georgia was not particularly pro-Russian on the eve of the revolution in 2003, and therefore Russian foreign policy in Georgia must have failed ...

  With the new year comes a change in the map that straddles the line between a de facto and a de jure development. As of January 1st, 2024, the Republic of Artsakh no longer exists, ending its 32-year history as an independent yet unrecognized state. The republic controlled most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and until 2020 also other territories internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. On the 19 th of September 2023 Azerbaijani military forces moved into the territory of Artsakh from multiple directions [1] . Fears of a third Nagorno-Karabakh war were halted by the surrender of the military of Artsakh the following day. With no support from the weakened Armenia and no hope of intervention by any great power, the government of Artsakh had no means to continue the fight alone. The surrendered government promised to dissolve Artsakh in January 2024 [2] . Artsakh’s dissolution marks the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, but it may not end the Armenia-Azerbaijan conf...