This is a legacy website featuring a collection of work by the Carnegie Endowment’s global network of scholars on topics including Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, and the post-Soviet states. This site is a product of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Washington, D.C. For more recent work by Carnegie scholars in this field, please visit Carnegie Politika.
Generations of state socialism had the effect of devaluing public space and creating a sharp split between the public and private spheres. This divide still exists today and helps explain the apathetic political culture that exists in most of the former Soviet Union.
Russia faces a range of challenges as it attempts to modernize and effectively use its power on the global stage in the coming decade.
As events continue to drive Russians and Chechens further apart, Moscow must find a way to establish a Russian civic identity in which the peoples of the Caucasus have a stake.
In recent years, Turkey’s foreign policy has undergone a fundamental transformation and the country has begun to play a more aggressive and assertive role.
Promoting democracy in the six post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe that were designated by the European Union as deserving special attention will require the EU to offer incentives for implementing reforms.
The reluctance of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit to peace negotiations over Nagorny Karabakh blocks the efforts of the international community to establish peace and U.S. bilateral interests in the two nations constrain a more aggressive push to force a deal.
The Nagorny Karabakh conflict remains a source of potential instability for the South Caucasus region and for neighboring countries. Lessons learned from the history of the Karabakh peace process can be applied to today's dialogue.
Although the Armenia-Turkey normalization process which began in 2008 seemed promising, it only made the situation throughout the South Caucasus worse when it stalled in April 2010.
Lifting the Russian embargo imposed on the Georgian wine would benefit the economic interests of both countries and would support the strained Russian-Georgian relationship.
In 2010, the overall security situation in the North Caucasus was worse than in 2009, although statistics show an improvement in Chechnya and Ingushetia.