Crimean Library
The Kerch Bridge and the Spread of the RF Aggression to the Sea of Azov
The Black Sea Threat and NATO Response
«The Gray Zone». The Occupied Crimea: Sanctions Violations in 2017. The Monitoring Results
The annual report by Maidan of Foreign Affairs, BlackSeaNews and the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies. It contains several databases of violations of the international sanctions in 2017 in the occupied Crimea.
"The Gray Zone". Crimea: Four Years of Occupation
The annual report by Maidan of Foreign Affairs, BlackSeaNews and the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies. It contains several databases such as a blacklist of maritime violators of so called "Crimean" sanctions for the last four years of Russian occupation.
Human Rights Abuses in Russian-Occupied Crimea
Don’t write off the Russian Navy
Vladimir YEVSEYEV, director of the Center for Public Policy Research, Moscow, specially for BSNews. However, in mid-May, the Mediterranean force saw its status upgraded to being directly subordinate to the General Staff of the Russian Navy. On June 1, the formation, consisting of 16 warships, plus auxiliary vessels and three helicopters, commenced military duty under the command of the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleev.
The South Caucasus countries and their security dimension
Eugene KOGAN, The Center for International and European Studies (CIES), Istanbul. The two unresolved conflicts in the South Caucasus hang over Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia like the Sword of Damocles. As seen from every view point, Russia’s influence, levers and policy toward conflicts resolution remain the key issues. As long as Moscow maintains a status quo policy and keeps the outside actors at arm’s length from the region, the unresolved conflicts will continue to fester.
Turkey and the new energy politics of the Black Sea region
Mitat CELIKPALA, Associate Professor at Kadir Has University, Istanbul. Energy competition in the Black Sea region, which was not in the spotlight in the post-2008 Russia- Georgia war period and was under the influence of the international financial crisis, has been showing signs of revival with the prospects of economic recovery and the signing of new agreements. For the last few years, Turkey has been trying to implement a comprehensive energy and foreign policy by considering alternative pipelines. This has not been an easy task for a transit country.
The European Neighbourhood Policy's First Decade In The Eastern Neighborhood
Elena GNEDINA, Nicu POPESCU, Center for International and European Studies (CIES) at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, specially for BSNews. In this period, the EU undoubtedly developed and intensified its relations with most of its eastern neighbors, but has hardly managed to 'change' them or significantly alter the course of their development...
The Democratization of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly and the Implications for Conflict-resolution in the Wider Black Sea Region
Dr. Carol WEAVER, Mukhtar HAJIZADA, CIES Policy Briefs №1 (Kadir Has University, Istanbul), special for BSNews. This Brief proposes a new idea of fully democratizing the BSEC. In order to bring about improved democracy, the Parliamentary Assembly of BSEC would have popular elections to its chamber...
Black Sea Region: Evolution Of Geopolitical Change
Alla YAZ'KOVA, Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Over the two decades that passed after the USSR break-up, the previously rather calm and in a way peripheral Black Sea region has become a crossroad of multifaceted contradictions and geopolitical competition...
Black Sea Region Constitutes A Forward Stronghold Of The European And Global Fight Against «New» Threats
Jakob HEDENSKOG, Defence Research Agency, Sweden.The Black Sea area is a region of great potential but also one beset with problems and risks. Due to its strategic location in the middle of Eurasia, control of the Black Sea region is of great geopolitical interest. For instance, the Black Sea region derives relevance from its position as a vital transit route, as an «energy corridor» between Europe and the Caspian Sea
Crimean Peninsula Is A Fundamental Component Of Any Future Ukrainian Role In The Black Sea Region
Dimitrios TRIANTAPHYLLOU, Center for International and European Studies, Turkey. There is no clear trend as to the direction the Black Sea Region is going towards today. The verdict is still out as to whether, in geopolitical terms, it is border region or a «‘bridge or buffer zone’, a ‘pivot’ that lies at the centre of a Mackinder-type ‘geopolitical heartland’».
Black Sea: A New Analytical Framework Is Needed
Valeri RATCHEV, Director, Political Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Bulgaria. Nine times out of ten the wider Black Sea area is pictured in security analyses as a cross-field of geopolitical regions («region-between-regions») in which prevailing players exercise different instruments of power with the intention to establish some kind of control – political, economic, and even military.
The Black Sea Region Has Become The Place Of Collision Of Two World Outlooks: European And Neo-Soviet
Tengiz PKHALADZE, Chairman, International Centre for Geopolitical Studies, Georgia. Razumkov Centre’s Roundtable. The Black Sea region instead of cooperation has been turned into the scene of geopolitical confrontation. The Russian Federation – after the World War II, the Black Sea was actually placed under the control of the Soviet empire. As the USSR successor, the Russian Federation is still enthralled by its old ambitions...