Russia and Iran’s Dangerous Energy Gambit in the Caucasus

There are signs that the current escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, far from being incidental to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is driven by Russia’s and Iran’s economic warfare against a competing state and the need to return Europe to dependency on their oil and gas in light of US sanctions. Armenia benefits from the bellicose activity thanks to a sophisticated information warfare campaign in a heated US election year that has been unmatched thus far by Azerbaijan. But Baku can still turn its underdog position around by pursuing an assertive and affirmative policy against aggressors on military, political, media, and legal fronts.

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 6 (March 2024)

In March 2024, the PSCRP program of the BESA Center covered in its materials the regional developments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, as well as particular problems related to Ukraine and Russia.

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 4 (January 2024)

In January 2024, the analysts writing for the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program at BESA prepared eight materials concentrating on antisemitism, nationalism, and ethnic separatism in Russia, geopolitical alliance-making in the South Caucasus, and minoritarian electoral participation in Latvia.

Azerbaijan and Armenia: Political Stand in the Aftermath of October 7

The ongoing war between Israel and the radical Islamist terrorist movement Hamas has a substantial symbolic and practical impact on the domestic political discourse and foreign policy of countries involved in military and geopolitical conflicts in other regions of the world, including the South Caucasus

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 2 (November 2023)

In November 2023, the BESA Post-Soviet Conflict Research Program published a series of texts, half of which focus on the recent surge of anti-Semitism in the region of interest, and the rest on the recent dynamics of military supplies in the South Caucasus, Russian-Georgian relations, and the electoral behavior of Kazakhstan's Russian-speaking minority.

Belarus Could Be Russia’s Next Big Geopolitical Target

Russia’s geopolitical projection has shifted over the past two decades. The country has tried to reverse its losses in Ukraine and the South Caucasus, but it is in Belarus that Moscow will most likely try to further extend its leverage to keep the EU and NATO at bay.

Tehran-Moscow Cooperation Goes Beyond Syria

The Syrian theater exemplifies Russo-Iranian cooperation, but there are other theaters in which Moscow and Tehran have cooperated for years. Their partnership in the South Caucasus and the energy-rich Caspian Sea area are examples of this trend. Taken together, these instances of Russo-Iranian cooperation fit into the pattern of “geopolitical chaos” across Eurasia in which Moscow and Tehran, as well as other regional powers, work together to challenge US dominance.

Russia and Iran: Friends and Foes

Russia and Iran have been geopolitical rivals for centuries – but over the past couple of years, the Moscow-Tehran axis has grown exponentially. This creates major headaches for the US and other western powers that are concerned about how far this cooperation could go. The two powers share common interests in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, but are wary of one another’s growing influence in their own backyards.

Kazakhstan Under Russian Pressure: Why the West Is Not an Alternative

Kazakhstan, now an independent state and formerly one of the republics of the USSR, has the longest land border with Russia. It stretches for 7,600 kilometers, a significant distance that necessitates Kazakhstan's constant balancing act in Russian-Kazakh relations. The war in Ukraine temporarily weakened Russian influence in Central Asia, but now things are returning to their previous state.

BESA Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Digest No. 7 (April 2024)

In April 2024, the PSCR program’s materials covered the conflictual dynamics in and around Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Estonia.

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