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Analysis
Analysis: How Trump’s US presidency may impact the South Caucasus

Analysis: How Trump’s US presidency may impact the South Caucasus

A second Trump presidency is unlikely to bring a sharp focus to the South Caucasus and American policy for the region will hinge on existing bipartisan frameworks and congressional initiatives rather than direct presidential involvement, according to an analysis by Vita van Dreven of The Hague Institute for Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. She explores how the Trump presidency might impact the South Caucasus, analysing potential policy directions and their implications for the region:
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News
President Aliyev rejects criticism over arrests of journalists after seven news staff go on trial

President Aliyev rejects criticism over arrests of journalists after seven news staff go on trial

President Ilham Aliyev has rejected criticism over the arrests of journalists and said Azerbaijan has "a free press and a free internet." Seven people went on trial in Azerbaijan on Tuesday in the latest of a series of cases against staff of independent news media, prompting accusations of a crackdown on the press. Six of the defendants are affiliated with Abzas Media, an independent outlet focused on corruption and human rights in Azerbaijan, which ranks 164th of 180 countries in Reporters without Borders' (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. The seventh is a reporter with the Azeri language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a US government funded outlet.
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News
Donald Trump takes oath of office as US President, says he will save America from decline

Donald Trump takes oath of office as US President, says he will save America from decline

Donald Trump aged 78 was sworn in as the 47th president of the US and pledged in his inauguration address to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump declared his intention to sign a number of executive actions in his first hours as president, including a number focused on border security and immigration, his top priority. Trump announced a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border, declared drug cartels as terrorists, and will scrap government diversity programmes. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.
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News
Donald Trump takes oath of office as US President, says he will save America from decline.

Donald Trump takes oath of office as US President, says he will save America from decline.

Donald Trump aged 78 was sworn in as the 47th president of the US and pledged in his inauguration address to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump declared his intention to sign a number of executive actions in his first hours as president, including a number focused on border security and immigration, his top priority. Trump announced a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border, declared drug cartels as terrorists, and will scrap government diversity programmes. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.
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Analysis
Consolidating relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan

Consolidating relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan

The working visit by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze to Azerbaijan on January 17 suggests that both countries recognise that close cooperation is essential for ensuring stability and fostering prosperity in the region. During the visit, Kobakhidze met with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov and participated in a session of the joint intergovernmental commission, which included delegations from both countries. The discussions revolved around the partnership between the two countries, bolstering trade and economic ties, as well as expanding cooperation in the energy and transportation sectors.
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News
Human Rights Watch releases World Report 2025, says Georgian Government has driven country to a crisis

Human Rights Watch releases World Report 2025, says Georgian Government has driven country to a crisis

The  Georgian government has driven the country toward a human rights crisis in 2024, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2025. The report published Thursday stated that the Georgian government has adopted new repressive laws, unleashed brutal police violence against mostly peaceful protesters, and pivoted away from the European Union accession process and the human rights reforms this would have required.
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Georgian opposition leader hospitalised after assault, blames members of the party in government

Georgian opposition leader hospitalised after assault, blames members of the party in government

Giorgi Gakharia, a former prime minister of Georgia who now leads one of the country's main opposition groups, was hospitalised after being severely beaten. Acording to media reports he sustained injuries on his face and head during an assault by several men at a hotel lobby in Batumi. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Gakharia said his health was stable. His party, For Georgia, called the assault a "brutal, coordinated group attack" and said the government was to blame. Party in government has denied any wrongdoing.
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New Strategic Partnership signed between the U.S. and Armenia

New Strategic Partnership signed between the U.S. and Armenia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan launched the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Partnership Commission on January 14 marking the latest milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.  The United States and Armenia signed the strategic partnership agreement at the State Department in Washington expanding cooperation in security and several of areas as Yerevan appears to distance itself from Russia, a traditional. The United States is "working with Armenia in the realm of security and defense, and in particular, to support its efforts to assert its independence and sovereignty over its own territory," Blinken said at the signing ceremony.
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Opinion
Opinion: From Key West to Key Failures - The Demise of the OSCE Minsk Group

Opinion: From Key West to Key Failures - The Demise of the OSCE Minsk Group

When I moved to Yerevan in October 1998, it was rare to hear much positive conversation about the future of Armenia or Karabakh. That had also been the case when I visited the country on a research trip earlier that June. Many were already tired of the conflict and few seemed enthused with a new regime that had just come to power after the ousting the country's first president earlier that year. Levon Ter-Petrosyan had chosen to resign following a palace coup staged by his inner circle opposed to a concessionary peace deal with Azerbaijan. They thought the deal proposed by a troika of France, Russia, and the United States was a betrayal. Ter-Petrosyan warned that it might well be the best Armenia could ever hope for.