By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku
On June 27, Russian special forces conducted a violent raid in Ekaterinburg targeting ethnic Azerbaijanis. This sparked a significant escalation in tensions between Baku and Moscow, further straining an already fragile bilateral relationship. The operation, which focused on a group of Azerbaijanis suspected of murder in the early 2000s, resulted in the extrajudicial killing of two brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, and injuries to several others, with nine individuals detained. According to Azerbaijani media, the raid involved brutal tactics, including beatings, electric shocks, and degrading treatment, prompting a fierce reaction from Baku. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued a strong response, demanding a prompt investigation and prosecution of those responsible, and the country’s Prosecutor General launched a criminal case accusing Russian police of torturing and deliberately killing the brothers. Azerbaijani authorities and media have framed the incident as a deliberate act of ethnic violence, with the Prosecutor General’s office alleging that the brothers died from “post-traumatic shock” after severe beating”. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 09.07.2025
| External Relations
By Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, PhD, founder & president, Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies (MISS)
A stronger EU-India partnership on technology transfer, climate finance, green transition, and sustainability can help bridge the North-South divide.
Among the host of commitments that found their way into the Leaders’ Statement during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to India in February 2025 was the need for greater cooperation across a number of areas pertaining to climate change. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and von der Leyen also reaffirmed their commitment to promote “a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” in the wake of the European Union joining the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) in 2023. Within the IPOI, an Indian initiative, climate change has been a significant area of focus. While the EU and India are working to address the challenges in their bilateral relations, including finalizing a much-delayed free trade agreement, climate cooperation in the Indo-Pacific can become a defining strategic initiative between the two. The prevailing heat waves in Europe and Indian cities, and its implications for livelihoods, economies, and conflict, make such cooperation even more necessary. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 09.07.2025
| Energy
By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst
Kazakhstan has recently been making steps to improve its defence capabilities. In April 2025, the Kazakh Ministry of Defence confirmed that a legislative framework was established to regulate the Defence Industry Development Fund, which was created in December 2023. The new defence fund aims to acquire and manufacture domestically crucial military hardware, such as artillery ammunition, weapons systems, and combat modules. For this purpose, the Kazakh government plans to allocate approximately $265 million from the state budget. Earlier, on March 3, Kazakh Defence Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov announced the establishment of a new defence industry centre at the only tank repair plant in Central Asia in the Eastern city of Semey. Zhaksylykov proclaimed that the new hub aims to strengthen “Kazakhstan’s self-sufficiency in defence production” through “expanding the ability to both maintain and manufacture crucial military technologies locally”. As the regional order in Eurasia shifts amid Russia’s war against Ukraine, Kazakhstan is opting to rely on its armed forces, domestic military resources, and international security partnership formats to counter any potential threat. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 09.07.2025
| Security
By Elkhan NURIYEV, PhD, Senior Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Berlin
As the war in Ukraine drags on for yet another year, a hard truth is becoming even harder to ignore: Military victory may no longer be a realistic objective for Kyiv — no matter how many billions the West sends, or how many Russian soldiers die. This isn’t a popular outlook in Washington or Brussels, where the assumption persists that enough aid and resolve will eventually break Moscow. But despite Ukraine’s extraordinary resilience and the West’s deep pockets, that outcome is looking increasingly unlikely. Rather, the war is hardening into a grinding stalemate — one that threatens to exhaust Ukraine, fracture Western unity and empower the very regime it was meant to weaken. The question Western policymakers must now confront is not whether Ukraine deserves support, but whether the current strategy is helping it win, or simply helping it survive long enough to lose more slowly. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 03.07.2025
| Security
By Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, PhD, founder & president, Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies (MISS)
Yoga, which originated in ancient India, features many asanas (physical postures) focused on enabling the human body to find a fine balance, while stretching the limbs to achieve maximum flexibility. India uses yoga as a tool of its soft power, celebrating International Yoga Day on June 21 every year, and the present Indian foreign policy making often mirrors such asanas. When faced with stark situations such as taking sides between warring states, New Delhi tends to fall back on a balancing act, avoiding taking sides and advocating diplomacy and de-escalation. However, finding the right balance in matters of statecraft is a tough task, particularly when one side has been perceived to be favoured over the other in the past, but those warm relations are no longer the same. India’s stance on the Israel-Iran conflict contains many such contradictions. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 03.07.2025
| External Relations
By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”
On June 13, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of Operation Rising Lion, aimed at striking Iran’s nuclear facilities and missile capabilities. On the first day of the conflict, Israel targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials and later, energy infrastructure and residential areas. In response, Iran launched Operation True Promise-3, sending a missile barrage targeting key infrastructure in Israeli cities, mainly Tel Aviv and Haifa. It is worth mentioning that the Israeli operation took place just two days before the American and Iranian sides planned to hold their sixth round of nuclear talks. By striking first, Israel has blocked the door to diplomacy and now hopes to drag the United States into another regional war, as if the horrors of the 2003 Iraq invasion haven’t disappeared from the Middle East’s collective memory. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 25.06.2025
| External Relations
By Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, PhD, founder & president, Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies (MISS)
Providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people has been a tool used by India for both opposing the Taliban in the past and engaging the Taliban now.
It’s springtime in India-Taliban relations. On May 16, 160 Afghan trucks carrying dry fruits crossed over into India from Pakistan, across the checkpoint in Attari. Although the border crossing is closed for Indo-Pak trade and movement of people since the brief conflict between the two nations in May 2025, it seems Indo-Afghan land trade is now open, as long as Pakistan does not play spoiler and create hurdles. In the last week of April 2025, India resumed granting visas to Afghan citizens across multiple categories, four years after suspending all visa services following the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Kabul. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 25.06.2025
| External Relations
In an exclusive interview with EU Today, Dr Marat Terterov, Founder and Director of the Brussels Energy Club, and Co-founder of the European Geopolitical Forum, outlined the key economic and geopolitical implications of the current crisis and warned against further escalation or any attempt at externally imposed regime change in Iran. According to Dr Terterov, oil prices spiked by approximately 7 percent in the immediate aftermath of the strikes—an early signal of market anxiety. Although prices have since moderated, he emphasised that this stabilisation is largely based on “bets on a ceasefire” and a broad assumption that the situation would not worsen. “Most experts believe Iran lacks the military muscle to sustain an open conflict with the United States or Israel,” he said. While Tehran has voiced outrage over the strikes—carried out during ongoing nuclear negotiations—Dr Terterov cautioned against underestimating the strategic calculus behind Iran’s actions.
READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 25.06.2025
| Markets
By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku
The Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), held on May 20-21, 2025, in Budapest, Hungary, marked a significant milestone in the organisation’s growing geopolitical influence. Hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the summit brought together leaders from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan, alongside observer states Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This gathering, the first OTS summit hosted by an observer state, underscored Hungary’s role as a bridge between the Turkic world and Europe, reflecting the theme “Meeting Point of East and West”. The summit culminated in the adoption of the Budapest Declaration, a strategic roadmap that reaffirmed the OTS’s commitment to unity, cooperation, and addressing global challenges. This event highlighted the organisation’s evolution into a formidable geopolitical player, particularly for Central Asian states and Azerbaijan, as they navigate complex regional dynamics to safeguard their independence and counter threats to their security. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 14.06.2025
| External Relations
By Vusal GULIYEV, Policy Advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations and Head of Shanghai Office at AZEGLOB Consulting Group
Azerbaijan and Vietnam formally elevated their 33-year diplomatic relationship to a strategic partnership during General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Tô Lâm’s visit to Baku from May 7 to 8. After signing a joint declaration to form a strategic alliance, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Tô Lâm established numerous cooperation agreements across various sectors, including energy, defence, and culture. Aliyev described the pact as a “very serious political document” that upgrades relations, pledging to turn the signed agreements into concrete projects. Tô Lâm likewise hailed the visit as a new era in the history of relations between the two countries, noting that deepened ties would leverage each side’s strengths for mutual development. This first visit by a Vietnamese Communist Party leader to Azerbaijan underscored Hanoi’s commitment to broader engagement with the Caucasus. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 14.06.2025
| External Relations
EGF Head of Research, Dr. George Vlad NICULESCU, co-edited a new volume on “Understanding Contemporary Information Landscape Handbook (UCIL)” with the Austrian National Defence Academy and the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes: “The idea of this Handbook sprang forth from a policy recommendation issued at a past Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group (RSSC SG) workshop: “Create, with the assistance of PfP Consortium volunteers, a Reference Curriculum on Media Literacy, emphasizing the impact of modern communication techniques and social media on human biology, psychology and behaviour. The aim would be to raise awareness of the media as a tool of hybrid warfare, and how to build resilience to it at individual level.” Looking with an academic eye at the final product of our last three years of work I’d conclude that this Handbook is a great success as a valuable education tool for students and teachers in media studies, politics, international relations. READ MORE
New EGF Affiliated Expert, Dr. Shanthie Mariet D’SOUZA was interviewed by “France 24 English -Access Asia” on what’s behind the posturing from New Delhi on the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. She explained that “India has significant strategic interests in both Iran and Israel. Taking sides in this conflict could jeopardise these interests in the medium to long term, which is something India cannot afford”. WATCH HERE
EGF Affiliated Expert Nika CHITADZE published a new book on “World Politics” with the International Black Sea University from Tbilisi, Georgia. The book is divided into four main parts: first part is dedicated to the history and theory of world politics; second part analyses key processes in world politics, such as: globalization, integration, and democratization. Third part describes the basic challenges facing the international community, including arms control and security, conflicts, terrorism, organized crime, failed states, demography, migration, environment, relations between the “Global North” and the “Global South”. The fourth part reviews the main aspects of regulating the political processes in the world with the methods and instruments of foreign policy and diplomacy, and global governance. READ HERE
EGF Affiliated Expert Yeghia TASHJIAN was recently interviewed by the "New Arab" on how developments in Syria impacted Hezbollah's politics and how the Lebanese government should carefully manage its relations with the new administration in Damascus. He was quoted saying: “Hezbollah lost its main Syrian regional power base and key political support system when support for the Assad regime ended. Syria was also an important transit country for smuggling Iranian missiles and weapons to Lebanon. Now that this transit is gone and amid Israeli pressure, Hezbollah feels squeezed between Israel from the south and sky and Syria from the East.”READ MORE
Between 07-10 November 2024, Dr Marat TERTEROV and Dr George Vlad NICULESCU participated in the 28th workshop of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes on “Connectivity Risks and Opportunities in the South Caucasus”, held in Reichenau a/d Rax (Austria). Please click here for the programme and agenda outline, here for George’s speaking points, here for the policy recommendations, and here for the proceedings of the workshop
Between 10-13 April 2025, Dr George Vlad NICULESCU participated in the 29th workshop of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes on “Emerging Technologies in Conflict Prevention: Leveraging Technology for Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus”, held in Istanbul (Turkey). Please click here for the programme and agenda outline, and here for George’s speaking points.
On June 3, 2025, Dr. George Vlad Niculescu gave a short brief on the outcomes and potential implications of Romania’s 2025 presidential elections to the “Neighbourhoods” Working Group of the Institute of European Studies de l’Université UCLouvain, site de Saint-Louis-Brussels. Read here his briefing.