This paper from the German Marshall Fund of the United States notes Georgia's better performance compared to Ukraine in two key areas of reform: improving the rule of law and battling corruption. The paper says that Ukraine’s failure to capitalize on the hopes raised by the ‘Orange Revolution’ has been highlighted by the recent Nato summit in Riga, where it became plain that plans to fast track Ukraine’s NATO membership application have been shelved indefinitely.

At PINR, Marcel de Haas reports on current geostrategy in the South Caucasus.

Stephen Sestanovich, a Clinton administration expert on the former Soviet Union, says the crisis between Russia and Georgia plays to deep-seated fears in both countries and could build to the point where confrontations are not fully controlled.

Russia has severed transport links with Georgia as the most serious row in years between the two sides deepens. The move follows Georgia’s temporary seizure of Russian military officers, a mark of Tbilisi’s frustration over Russian policy in the region.

In this report Amnesty International draws attention to the widespread impunity of perpetrators of domestic violence in Georgia.

Fifteen years after the fall of the Soviet empire, a number of so-called frozen conflicts remain unresolved and threaten to unravel fragile peace accords in regions important to energy interests and organizations like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Terra Lawson-Remer argues that the International Finance Corporation (the member of the World Bank Group responsible for financing private-sector projects) can and should require inclusion of commitments regarding sustainable development and human rights in the legal covenants that often govern large private-sector investments.

The G8 Summit this month came on the heels of an important development in Russia—the death of Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev. Although the separatists have been weakened, experts say the resistance will persist.

Chechen separatist Shamil Basayev is one of several rebel leaders to die violently in recent years. His death leaves the future of the movement in doubt.

Andrei Babitsky of RFE/RL, one of the few journalists to have met and interviewed Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, says his death may weaken the Chechen separatist movement, but will not kill it.

At a CFR meeting, Azerbaijan's president said his country would not aid U.S. military action against Iran.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has dismissed any suggestion that his country would participate with the United States in military action against neighboring Iran. But in a briefing at the Council on Foreign Relations Aliyev stressed his country’s anti-terror cooperation with Washington, including troop commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He spoke ahead of his first meeting Friday with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Listen to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discuss his country’s anti-terror cooperation with the United States, including troop commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan.