The Caucasus

The Caucasus

Named for the mountain range between southern Russia, and northern Turkey and Iran, the Caucasus is home to the nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Since their independence in 1991, these nations have faced frozen conflicts which have hampered development and have given Russia and Turkey means to exert and maintain influence. While all three nations have made progress toward democracy and a free market in varying degrees, corruption, human rights violations, and conflict still hinder efforts to improve regional security.

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Content

In the News

Sep 22, 2026

Matthew Bryza joins Azerbaijan’s ARB TV 24 about new transport corridor investments helping to bolster peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia
Politics & Diplomacy Positive Economic Statecraft

Dispatches

Sep 21, 2026

Dispatch from Baku: Azerbaijan must look forward even amid Russian and Iranian conflicts

By Andrew D’Anieri

A recent visit to the Caucasus region reveals a country exposed to two wars, but also one that must not wait to chart its economic and diplomatic future.

Central Asia Economy & Business

In the News

Sep 20, 2026

In Amwaj media, Matthew Bryza comments on the Mecca Agreement and the question of it extending to the South Caucuses
Security & Defense The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2026

With Putin overextended in Ukraine, Armenia is turning away from Russia

By Joseph Epstein

Every day Ukraine keeps fighting, Russian influence grows weaker in the countries of the ex-USSR that Moscow refers to as the “near abroad.” Nowhere is this Russian retreat clearer than in Armenia, writes Joseph Epstein.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2026

Ukrainian drone strikes are disarming Russia’s energy weapon

By Ana Lejava

For years, Russia wielded its energy capacity as a weapon against its neighbors to manipulate, coerce, and control. Ukraine’s strategic bombing campaign is now turning this energy weapon against Moscow itself, writes Ana Lejava.

Central Asia Conflict

TURKEYSource

Jul 24, 2026

Turning to Azerbaijani gas and US LNG, Turkey seeks to break its reliance on Russian energy

By İlker Sezer

Turkeyʼs multifaceted approach to diversifying its gas supplies away from Russia, including by buying from the US and Azerbaijan, may finally be paying off.

Energy & Environment European Union

Dispatches

Jun 9, 2026

Four questions (and expert answers) about Armenia’s elections and what to expect next

By Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts look at what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s victory means for the South Caucasus region and for the US and Russia.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Jun 9, 2026

Countries across Russia’s former empire are reclaiming place names to assert identity

By Joseph Epstein

Ukraine's campaign to strip Soviet and Russian imperial place names from the country’s towns and cities is not a reaction to the current war so much as the leading edge of a region-wide rejection of Moscow's cartography, writes Joseph Epstein.

Central Asia Civil Society

Russia Tomorrow

May 21, 2026

The Kadyrov question: Who rules Chechnya next?

By Marat Iliyasov

The latest report in the Atlantic Council's Russia Tomorrow series assesses the four pathways that may await Chechnya after Kadyrov is no longer in power.

Corruption Crisis Management

Dispatches

May 10, 2026

Now is the time for a US ‘grand deal’ with Azerbaijan

By Andrew D’Anieri, Mercedes Sapuppo

The White House should work with Congress to propose ending a ban on arms sales to Baku in exchange for the release of unjustly detained individuals.

Human Rights Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
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Experts

Staff

Eto Buziashvili

Research Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Fellow

Michael Carpenter

Distinguished Fellow

Eurasia Center Europe Center

Eastern Europe National Security
Sopo Gelava

Staff

Sopo Gelava

Associate Director, Research

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Civil Society Disinformation
Givi Gigitashvili

Expert bio

Givi Gigitashvili

Resident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Conflict Disinformation
Melinda Haring

Fellow

Melinda Haring

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Civil Society

Staff

John E. Herbst

Senior Director

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Politics & Diplomacy
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