By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

On August 29, 2023, in my article “What does the expansion of BRICS mean for the South Caucasus?” I argued that Iran’s accession to BRICS and the integration of the region’s infrastructure into the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) would similarly increase pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan to join the bloc. The post-2020 regional status quo and the war in Ukraine have opened the path for new Eurasian actors such as India and China to exert their influence on the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is the main beneficiary of this development. Positioned strategically along the North-South and East-West transport corridors, Baku has capitalized on its position to become a pivotal transportation and logistics hub in Eurasia. This has caught the attention of China amid the geopolitical shifts that took place in the South Caucasus in light of the second Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Ukraine wars. READ MORE

• July 26, 2024

By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

Since the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in negotiations to sign a peace agreement. The process seems like a roller coaster of extreme ups and downs, reflecting the volatile and unpredictable nature of the discussions. Several times, the sides have seemed close to reaching a deal only for an unexpected circumstance to arise, causing a significant reversal during the peace talks. In late 2022, after intensive negotiations in Washington and Prague, Azerbaijan refused to appear in Brussels and instead launched a blockade of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan did the same at the end of 2023, when despite mounting hopes for an imminent agreement President Aliyev refused to attend the European Political Community (EPC) summit in October 2023 in Granada and the trilateral Armenia–Azerbaijan–European Union summit in Brussels. READ MORE

• July 26, 2024

State intelligence agency claims ‘former officials’ also planned to assassinate governing party head Ivanishvili.

• July 24, 2024

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Guangzhou, China on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and the war.

• July 24, 2024

Our findings about the shadowy multi-platform operation attacking Qatar and stoking Islamophobia to further its far-right agenda in Europe and beyond call for immediate action.

• July 24, 2024

Turkish leader says he sees no point in UN-led talks as Christodoulides declares reunification is the only way forward.

• July 22, 2024

Russia says its military scrambled MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets, which identified the US planes as В-52Н strategic bombers.

• July 22, 2024

The Turkish president accuses Greece of wanting to establish a naval base of its own in Cyprus.

• July 22, 2024