After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, governments in the former Soviet Union were immediately forced to deal with difficult geopolitical realities. In this report for the ELN, YGLN member Daniel Shapiro uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to show there is increased heterogeneity in geopolitical positioning among post-Soviet states and offers key lessons from this for Western policymakers.
The South Caucasus is a strategically significant part of the world — but the West’s presence in the region seems to be gradually eroding. Daniel Shapiro provides suggestions regarding areas in which Western countries can re-engage.
Among the hopes and expectations that the election of President Biden has triggered, further enlargement of NATO is, for security in Europe, one of the most significant and problematic. In advance of the NATO Summit in June, Nick Williams argues that NATO’s door must remain open but further enlargements should wait until stricter conditions are defined and fulfilled.
A completely secure cyber domain is no longer a viable option in today’s ever-evolving cyberspace, but effective defence can and should be structured ahead of time in anticipation of an attack. Tinatin Japaridze lays out a set of priorities to help aid the implementation of Georgia’s national cybersecurity strategy.
Former Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Tedo Japaridze, writes that Georgia is no longer willing to be defined in “post terms,” as “post-Soviet”, or reduced to a dependent variable on Euro-Western relations; that 2019 will be the year Georgia shapes its own growth.
ELN Research Fellow Thomas Frear argues that a resumption of Open Skies Treaty flights between Russia and Georgia is in the best interest of both, outlining a status-neutral method to overcome previously irreconcilable national positions.