With an Eye on Nearby Iran, Israeli Weapons Fuel the Violence in Azerbaijan

Hoping to profit, protect an important source of oil, and to antagonize nearby Iran, Israel is selling drones and weapons to Azerbaijan, fueling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Raul Diego
By Raul Diego
Nagorno-Karabakh Feature photo

The latest iteration of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has already claimed the lives of dozens of people, had been largely forgotten by the world before hostilities reignited in September. Only the collapse of the Soviet Union was able to bring about the end of the last war between these entrenched enemies in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, almost

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Caspian Sea Convention Signed to Open New Prospects for Region

The convention puts an end to the international dispute that has lasted more than two decades.

Peter Korzun
By Peter Korzun
Caspian Sea

Good news came on Aug.12 – the Caspian Sea Day marked since 2007 by littoral states. A final comprehensive open-ended agreement to solve a major international controversial issue was clinched in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan signed a convention on the Caspian Sea's legal status – the Caspian Sea

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As Israeli Arms Industry Grows, So Does its Global Testing Range

Israel’s own military-industrial complex has evolved through a series of stages going back to pre-statehood days. Currently, it is among the globe’s leading weapons exporters and, as such, appears to be expanding both its client list and its “test sites” for showcasing its wares.

James Carey
By James Carey
The Orbiter 1K manufactured by the Israeli arms manufacturer Aeronautics Defense Systems.

An Israeli weapons contractor is being investigated for an alleged “live fire” test of a suicide drone in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory whose ownership is disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia. If the allegations of this drone’s use on Armenian soldiers are true, it would constitute a criminal act and one that testifies to the long reach of the

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Azerbaijan And Armenia: A Brewing Proxy War?

Dwarfed by its regional neighbors, Azerbaijan remains an important cog in the Eurasian machine. Home to rich energy resources and situated at an important geostrategic crossroads, it’s clear that the tiny Eurasian state is becoming a geopolitical faultline.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam

From left, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, President of Iran Hassan Ruhani, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev and Russian President Vladimir Putin press a symbolic button to release some young belugas (white sturgeons) to the Volga river, during the Caspian Summit in Astrakhan,

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Record Gas Project Depends On Diplomatic Balancing Act

The world’s largest ever gas deal would transport fuel from Central Asia to Southern Europe, but the most impressive facet of the deal may be Azerbaijan’s ability to simultaneously please Europe, Iran and Russia.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Hungary Russia Ukraine Gas

The biggest gas deal in history to deliver fuel from the Caspian coast off of Azerbaijan, through Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and into Italy, is fast approaching reality. The $45-billion project requires the collaboration of seven countries, 11 investment companies and 11 buyers, according to Joe Murphy, vice president of the

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Syria Part IV: An Obsession With Trains Takes Me To Qamishli

My colleague was obsessed with trains, so I thought he dragged the Cairo press corps across the Syrian desert just to visit this train station.

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller

During the 1990s, I had a lucrative working arrangement with a German news magazine as a photographer. And over the course of the decade, I traveled with the magazine’s correspondent throughout North Africa, the Middle East and occasionally locations beyond. My colleague was obsessed with trains. No matter where we traveled, there was no getting

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