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Thirty years of war over Nagorno-Karabakh: what are the challenges for democracy?
By Licínia Simão The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh started in 1988, initially as a political demand by the Karabakh authorities for formal inclusion in the Armenian Socialist Soviet Republic. It rapidly escalated into violent confrontation, as Azerbaijani authorities refused this demand and Moscow proved too absent to manage the contestation. The final… Read More
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Helsinki 2.0 – An Old-School Solution to an Old-School Problem?
By Emmet Tuohy Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2015, OSCE chairman-in-office Ivica Dačić (then, as now, foreign minister of Serbia) called the agreement a “historic triumph of cooperation over conflict that set the stage for the end of the Cold War.” In historical context, that is certainly true enough. Yet,… Read More
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To Sleep, Perchance to Reform: The Continued Relevance of the EU’s Eastern Partnership
By Emmet Tuohy Much as the related “Ukraine fatigue” pandemic swept Washington in the aftermath of the 2004-05 Orange Revolution, Eastern Partnership (EaP) fatigue is alas an increasingly common illness among many contemporary observers, both within the EU and in the six partner countries. Even in Tallinn—the capital of one of the most enthusiastic and… Read More
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Armenian Dreams of Democracy
By Licínia Simão The month of April 2018 in Armenia was marked by an unprecedented level of popular mobilization demanding the resignation of Prime-minister Serzh Sargsyan and the end of the corrupt system he enabled as President over the last decade. He announced his resignation on April 23, following 11 days of protests in Yerevan and… Read More
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Call for Applications: EDSN Fellowship 2018-19
The Eurasia Democratic Security Network (EDSN), a project by the Center for Social Sciences with the generous funding of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is seeking applicants for its 2018-19 Research and Policy Fellowship. EDSN is a network of Europe and Eurasia scholars investigating the nexus between democracy and security, with special attention paid… Read More
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POLICY BRIEFING: Conditionality: Western & Regional Perspectives
By Giorgi Khelashvili In Spring 2017, the Center for Social Sciences launched the Eurasia Democratic Security Network project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). EDSN established a platform for discussing and addressing issues related to the Euro-Atlantic integration and conditionality. In July 2017, CSS organized kick-off workshop involving the first EDSN cohort. The aim… Read More
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Baltic Cooperation and its Impact on Conditionality: the Case of Astravets Chance
By Emmet Tuohy On the level of cooperation among the “B3” countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, progress towards accomplishing concrete and needed goals on energy (as well as transport) infrastructure has lagged badly. Not only has this lack of cooperation hampered each country’s ability to pursue its policies effectively in within Euro-Atlantic institutions, but it… Read More
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POLICY BRIEFING: Georgian Perceptions & Cautious Conditionality
By Levan Kakhishvili The 2015 Caucasus Barometer Survey demonstrates that for more than half of Georgians, democracy is not necessarily the most preferable form of government. In fact, only some 47 percent of the population thinks that democracy is better than other types of government. While such numbers are concerning, they are not necessarily atypical… Read More
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