Robert McMahon argues that unresolved conflicts haunting former Soviet states could hold clues to how the region develops in the decades ahead — or doesn't.

A railroad through the southern Caucasus will soon connect Europe and Asia, fueling dreams and discord in the region.

This Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) publication presents data from the entire 2009 period, indicating that violence has escalated since 2008 in the North Caucasus, which includes Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, and Dagestan.

Watch experts discuss U.S.-Russia relations, NATO enlargement, and Russian relations within Europe.

Listen to experts discuss U.S.-Russia relations, NATO enlargement, and Russian relations within Europe.

Hugh Pope reports on how Turkey and Armenia's promise to establish diplomatic relations on August 31 could restore Turkey's "prestige" as a regional peace-maker and place the nation one step closer to European Union membership.

One year after its war with Russia, Georgia is dispirited and unsure of its future. Has the United States staked too much on this small, fractured country in the Caucasus?

Veteran Eurasia expert Steven Pifer says Vice President Joseph Biden's trip to Ukraine and Georgia was meant to balance President Barack Obama's Moscow summit earlier in the month, but in both countries, Biden had to convey tough messages.

Robert E. Hunter, who was U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Clinton administration, says he does not expect NATO foreign ministers to enlarge the alliance to include Georgia or Ukraine at the next meeting in December.

The August war over South Ossetia has rekindled a superpower rivalry and showed the West that Moscow no longer heeds multilateral institutions.

Steven Pifer, an expert on Russian affairs and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, says U.S.-Russia relations have "deteriorated significantly" since their high point just after 9/11. The next U.S. administration should return to negotiations on limiting strategic arms and other areas of mutual interest, he says.

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation, discusses Russian geoeconomic relations in a CFR meeting.

With tension between Russia and Georgia resonating in Turkey, Ankara looks east to expand economic and strategic partnerships.

Michelle Smith and Charles D. Ferguson write on the U.S. role in the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

The war between Russia and Georgia has complicated Western efforts to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, analysts say.

Georgian Vice Prime Minister Georgi Baramidze says Western support is vital for sustaining his country's economy and democracy after the loss of two separatist areas in a war with Russia.

Robert E. Hunter, a former U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, says Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili miscalculated by sending troops into South Ossetia in mid-August, but in the end, "Russia is the loser here."

F. Stephen Larrabee, an expert on NATO and Eastern Europe, says Russia's invasion of Georgia was an effort to limit "Western influence into the former Soviet space."

Statement

Statement