27 March 2013
Eight Pieces of Empire — A 20-Year Journey through the Soviet Collapse
Lawrence Scott Sheets
Crown Publishers, New York
November 2011
336 pages
ISBN: 978-0-307-39582-5
The publication of Eight Pieces of Empire is good news, because Lawrence Scott Sheets — currently South Caucasus project director for the International Crisis Group — is one …
Read the rest of this entry
19 December 2012
The Caucasus — an introduction
Thomas de Waal
Oxford University Press, New York
August 2010
272 pages
ISBN: 978-0-1953-9976-9
It is always possible to find fault with a book if only one makes an effort. In the case of The Caucasus, Thomas de Waal's new book, the most serious issue thus …
Read the rest of this entry
5 December 2012
The Post-Soviet Wars — Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus
Christoph Zürcher
New York University Press, New York
November 2007
302 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8147-9709-9
Despite its general title, The Post-Soviet Wars covers only the major wars that took place in the Caucasus: the Karabakh war, the two Russo-Chechen wars …
Read the rest of this entry
26 May 2011
After previous deliberations, Georgia's parliament has now on 20 May formally recognised the Circassian Genocide which took place towards the end of the Russian Empire's conquest of the region, culminating in 1864.
In itself, it is a good thing that these events have been recognised for what they are. However …
Read the rest of this entry
5 March 2011
The photo was taken in Yerevan last August, outside a post office.
For those unfamiliar: TNT is a global mail and express company centred in the Netherlands. They introduced their slogan sure we can at the time of the 2008 American Presidential campaign, but claim to have come up with …
Read the rest of this entry
14 May 2010
The Georgian parliament may be moving in the direction of formally recognising the Circassian genocide perpetrated by Tsarist Russia in the 19th century. This genocide took place around the year 1864, the official end of the 50 year Caucasus war that more or less concluded Russia's conquest of the Caucasus …
Read the rest of this entry
20 March 2010
On the 15th of March, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov gave a press conference on the ongoing peace talks with Armenia over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Mammadyarov claimed that the latest draft proposal discussed by the parties proposed to resolve the conflict in two phases:
The first phase would witness …
Read the rest of this entry