A summer of political crisis winds down with a critical election looming in Georgia as a restive and pro-Western civil society seeks to oust an entrenched pro-Kremlin oligarch from power.
Meanwhile, Armenia licks its wounds and reconsiders its ties with Moscow nearly a year after losing a war over Nagorno-Karabakh to an emboldened Azerbaijan.
The strategically vital South Caucasus region is in flux as geopolitical loyalties shift.
And casting a shadow on it all, of course, is Russia’s war against Ukraine.
What should we be watching in this volatile region where the interests of Russia, Turkey, Iran, China, and the West clash?
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks to Jeff Mankoff of the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies and author of the book Empires of Eurasia: How Imperial Legacies Shape International Security to break it all down.
SHOW NOTES
Jeff Mankoff’s published works can be accessed here and here. His book, Empires of Eurasia: How Imperial Legacies Shape International Security, can be purchased here.
The Power Vertical Newsletter on Substack can be accessed here. Recently published work by Brian Whitmore can be accessed here and here.
The op-ed in The Washington Post by Christian Caryl about the prisoner exchange, which was referenced in the podcast, can be accessed here.