EurasianStudies_0110..

January-March 2010 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume II., Issue 1.
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Russian military base at Gyumri. In the mid-1990s the government embarked on an economic reform
programme which brought some stability and growth. The country became a member of the Council of
Europe in 2001. Unemployment and poverty remain widespread. Armenia's economic problems are
aggravated by a trade blockade, imposed by neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan since the dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over the predominantly Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan
overshadowed Armenia's return to independence in 1991. In the presidential election held in February
2008, Serzh Sargsyan became President of the country.
The Republic of Azerbaijan spreads about 86,600 sq km (33,400 sq miles), with a population about 8.4
million. Majority of its people practice Islam, and major languages spoken are Azeri and Russian. The
republic gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 amid political turmoil and against a
backdrop of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is known for its oil springs and natural gas sources. In the
19 th century, this part of the Russian empire experienced an unprecedented oil boom that attracted
international investment. By the beginning of the 20 th century, Azerbaijan was supplying almost half of
the world’s oil. In 1994, Azerbaijan signed an oil contract worth $7.4bn with a Western consortium. Since
then Western companies have invested millions in the development of the country’s oil and gas reserves.
Caspian oil is now flowing through a pipeline running from Baku through Georgia to the Turkish port of
Ceyhan (known as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline), providing western countries with ready access to a
vast new source of supply. Azerbaijan became a member of the Council of Europe in 2001. Often accused
of rampant corruption and election rigging, ruling circles walk a tightrope between Russian and Western
regional geo-strategic interests.
Situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia, Georgia has a landmass
of 69,700 sq km (26,911 sq miles), with a population of about 5 million. Majority of people practice
Christianity, and major languages spoken are Georgian and Russian. Over the centuries, Georgia has
been the object of rivalry between Persia, Turkey and Russia. It was eventually annexed by Russia in the
19 th century. Following an interlude of independence after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia, it was
incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgians
voted for independence and Zviad Gamsakhurdia as president, who was replaced in 1992 by Eduard
Shevardnadze as the country's new leader. Shevardnadze was ousted in November 2003 following mass
demonstrations over the conduct of parliamentary elections, named ‘Rose Revolution’ and was replaced
by Mikhail Saakashvili. The rupturing of trade ties with Russia had caused the Georgian economy to
decline. Georgia has started receiving an increasing proportion of its gas from Azerbaijan. Since its
emergence, Georgia has endured periods of civil war and unrest as well as violence related to the
independence aspirations of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian
peacekeepers have been stationed there since the early 1990s. Moscow is regularly accused by Tbilisi of
siding with the unrecognised states. The Georgian parliament has demanded that an international force
replace the Russian peacekeepers in both regions. After protracted discussions, Russia agreed in 2005 to
withdraw from its two remaining bases in Georgia, one in Ajaria and the other in southern Georgia.
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