Secret Weapon Deal with Armenia Helps Iran to Disrupt the South Caucasus

Iran is waging war against Israel and its allies on all fronts. On July 28, an Iranian-made Falaq missile fired by Hezbollah struck a playground in Majdal Shams, killing 14 children. Iranian media initially praised "Hezbollah's crushing blow that killed six Zionists". Yerevan facilitates Tehran’s disruption in the South Caucasus. Iran's actions extend beyond kinetic attacks on Israel through its proxies; it is actively working in other regions to undermine Israel's allies.

The South Caucasus and Iran’s New Political Reality

To say that Pezeshkian’s victory came as a surprise to most Iranian experts is to say nothing. Everyone expected Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to become president.

Azerbaijan as a Mediator: Baku’s New Role in the Geopolitics of the “Greater Middle East”

Since 8 October last year, alongside the “Iron Swords” operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel has been “actively defending” against Hezbollah, Iran’s chief proxy. Although the conflict remains positional, its geographical depth and intensity are growing, and the prospect of a full-scale confrontation with Hezbollah seems increasingly likely. This war could be the prologue to a major regional war.

Circassian Factor in the Context of the Russian-Ukrainian War

Today, only a small part of Circassians (Adyghes) live in their historical homeland. Despite the fact that they consider themselves a single people, official Russian statistics refers them to four different peoples: Kabardians, Circassians, Adyghes and Shapsugs, whose total number in the Russian Federation, according to the census of 2021, is 751,487 people.

Islamist Danger and Antisemitism in Dagestan (the Russian Federation)

Despite the Russian authorities’ undeniable responsibility for the current difficulties in the region, Islamism and the virulent anti-Semitism it engenders are themselves a serious problem in Dagestan. Neither the leadership nor the population of Dagestan should enjoy the condescending attitude of the West.

Ukraine and American Prospects

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has posed a direct challenge to the national sovereignty of an independent country, just as it continues to lead to extensive suffering, especially due to the attacks on civilian infrastructure. Yet beyond these direct consequences for Ukraine and the Ukrainians, the invasion represents nothing less than an assault on the established international order, an effort to redraw recognized state borders through the use of force.

Armenia and Georgia: Two Very Different Protests. Part 2.

Russia has long been developing plans to strengthen its influence in Georgia, and today they are close to materialization. The main goal is to strengthen its influence in the country, and how Russia gets Ivanishvili to do it is not really important. The protests in Georgia are aimed at opposing this turn.

Ethno-political Profile of Dagestan

The June 23 terrorist attacks on Christian and Jewish places of worship in Derbent and Makhachkala have once again drawn attention to Dagestan as one of the centers of radical Islamism in the Russian Federation. The exact number of practicing Muslims in Russia is unknown, but the peoples who traditionally practice Islam (so-called “ethnic Muslims”) make up more than 10% of its population.

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 9 (June 2024)

In June 2024, the materials published by the BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program covered the recent developments in the South Caucasus, as well as the projections of the regional dynamics on the geopolitical stances of Israel and France.

Seminar “Vectors and Cleavages of Post-Soviet Conflict Dynamics”

On June 27th, 2024, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University organized a seminar titled “Vectors and Cleavages of Post-Soviet Conflict Dynamics”. The seminar has symbolically marked the first year of the work of the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program (PSCRP) established at BESA in summer of 2023.