VESTNIK – Issue 21, Fall, 2024
Vestnik was launched by SRAS in 2004 as one of the world’s first online academic journals focused on showcasing student research. We welcome and invite…
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Book Review of Hard by a Great Forest
Hard by a Great Forest, by Leo Vardiashvili, is a wonderful, horrible book. The book is wonderful in that it presents believable, likeable characters who…
Book Review of The Politics of Culture in Soviet Azerbaijan, 1920-1940
Audrey, Altstadt. The Politics of Culture in Soviet Azerbaijan, 1920-1940. Routledge, London and New York, 2016. 234pp, $65pb. ISBN 9781138639003. “We are undertaking the…
Armenia: A Global People
The Modern Republic of Armenia lies in the turbulent south Caucuses. Although the Armenians as a people have existed for thousands of years, they have…
Armenia’s Foreign Policy and Security Issues for 2023
The most important issue in Armenia’s regional relations is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia is a landlocked country flanked by two historical adversaries, Turkey and Azerbaijan,…
Nagorno-Karabakh: The Volatile Core of the South Caucasus
The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is one of four frozen conflicts that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Legally recognized as a part of…
Georgia: A GeoHistory Study Guide
What Georgia might lack in size it makes up for in personality. Over the millennia, the nation we now call Georgia has been part of…
A Comparative Look at Coronavirus Responses in Eurasia
The global health crisis has changed life around the world, but in often very different ways in various places. Even countries located close to each…
Karabakh: Youth, War Zones, and Unrecognized Borders
The views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect those of GeoHistory or SRAS. This fascinating interview is presented here as documentation of what…
Sufi-Salafi Institutional Competition and Conflict in the Chechen Republic
The Russian North Caucasus is one of the most politically complex and turbulent areas in the world due to its plethora of ethnic, national, and…
Azerbaijan: A People from the Mists of Time
Azerbaijan’s name comes from the Persian words, azer, which means “fire” and baygan, which means “protector.” The name was first applied in ancient times to…
South Ossetia: Old Territory, New Problems
South Ossetia is one of the world’s newest independent states according to Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and the microstates of Tuvalu and Nauru. According to all…
Tbilisi: The Immortal City
These days, a visitor to Tbilisi might be struck by the calm, southern European atmosphere that pervades this hilly capital. The old city of Tbilisi,…
Georgia: New State, Deep Roots
The Republic of Georgia, a small nation in the South Caucasus, covers territory which has seen the rise and fall of many empires and kingdoms…
Abkhazia: Grandeur to Ruin… and Back Again?
Abkhazia: Grandeur to Ruin… and Back Again? With its precipitous mountains, subtropical climate, and pristine beaches, one would expect Abkhazia to be the Black Sea…
Introduction to Conflict in the Post-Soviet Space
As the Soviet Union crumbled, it left behind ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse successor states. As these states tried to form domestic policies and governing…
The Armenian Colonies in Ukraine: Conflict, Cooperation, and Assimilation
The early modern period from 1500-1800 has been focused upon in recent scholarship as a unique era separated from the medieval and the modern. This…
Politics in the Former Soviet Union: A Personal View from an American born of Russian Immigrants
On December 3, 2007 I awoke with a hangover, even though I had not imbibed the night before. The evening of December 2 was my…
Military Learning Between the Chechen Wars
The downward spiral of the Russian military that began with Afghanistan is often compared to the U.S. army’s experience in Vietnam. However, unlike the American…
Georgia’s Young Ministers and Younger Democracy
When discussing Georgia, most Americans (if they realize you are not talking about Atlanta) will laud the democratic achievements of that former soviet republic. To…