Stories about Georgia from April, 2008
Soviet History: Samizdat Anniversary
Window on Eurasia writes about the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Soviet samizdat publication, the Chronicle of Current Events.
Georgia: Parliamentary Election Digest
TOL Georgia reports on the latest developments in the run-up to next month's parliamentary election in Georgia. In the first of three posts, the blog comments on news that the country's parliamentary speaker, Nino Burjanadze, appears to have temporarily retired from active politics ahead of the vote. Meanwhile, the president's...
Armenia: Government U-Turn
Unzipped comments on news that the Armenian government has backed down in its attempts to prevent a congress by supporters of the former president and radical opposition leader from being staged in the capital, Yerevan. The u-turn happened after the organizers of the congress instead looked to Tbilisi, capital of...
Georgia: Drone Downed
Registan comments on the latest scandal to hit Russian-Georgian relations after the alleged shooting down of an apparently unarmed Georgian drone by what appears to be a Russian MiG-29. For a variety of reasons outlines in the post, the blog concludes that the true circumstances of the incident may never...
Georgia: Dubai of the Black Sea
Registan comments on news that the United Arab Emirates plans to invest $100 million in Poti. With Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili promising to turn the port into a Eurasian Dubai, the blog wonders if this means foreign companies will move in to make a killing before finally leaving when new...
Georgia: Tourism Development
Social Science in the Caucasus examines Georgia's fledgling post-Soviet tourism industry and takes one ski resort as an example. After previously failed attempts at privatization, the blog says that with each step of progress, other problems emerge which reflect many of the issues facing the former Soviet republic.
Caucasus: Development Index
Social Science in the Caucasus examines statistics used to determine the performance of Armenia and Azerbaijan by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Three main policy categories — namely, Ruling Justly, Investing in People, and Economic Freedom — are examined. While the blog says that Georgia is showing progress, the two other...
Georgia: NATO MAP Rejected
TOL Georgia comments on the country's failure to be accepted into the Membership Action Plan (MAP) by NATO at its recent summit in Bucharest. Citing the example of Albania, the blog is pessimistic about Georgia's chances of entering the alliance in the near future especially given a lack of progress...
Europe: NATO
Greater Surbiton writes about NATO's relations with Russia: “If the NATO powers lack the will to stand up to Russia, it raises the question of what precise purpose NATO serves.” And about NATO and the Greek-Macedonian relations: “Greece has been a very poor member of NATO; it has only about...
Southeast Europe, Russia: War, Peace, and Shared History
Veronica Khokhlova translates some Russophone bloggers' views on shared history and conflict in Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus.
Russia: Relations With NATO
Streetwise Professor writes about the relationship between NATO and Russia: “If NATO expansion does not threaten Russian territory in the slightest, it does sharply constrain Russian freedom of action in Ukraine and Georgia.”
Russia, U.S.: NATO Summit
Scraps of Moscow writes about various aspects of the NATO Summit in Bucharest and the coverage it is receiving in the U.S. and Russian media.
