By Eka Janashia (6/27/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Georgian Dream coalition led by tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili started a vigorous election campaign in May to beat the ruling United National Movement in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October. On behalf of three opposition parties (Georgia-Free Democrats, Republican Party and National Forum) and individual politicians united under the coalition, Ivanishvili outlined political priorities to thousands of Georgians at large demonstrations held in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Ozurgeti in May and June.

By Haroutiun Khachatrian (6/27/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On May 24, 2012, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party (PA, ”Bargavach Hayastan” in Armenian) Gagik Tsarukian declared that his party, the second largest in the parliament according to the results of the vote of May 6, would not enter the governmental coalition with the Republican Party (RP) of President Serzh Sargsyan. The president later entered a coalition agreement with a smaller party, Country of Law (“Orinats Yerkir”).

By Mina Muradova (6/27/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The competing political and economic interests of the five littoral countries of the Caspian Sea after the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a prolonged dispute over the definition of the legal status and fair division of the basin according to national segments. Different legal interpretations have led to political and even military clashes between countries. The former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have recently exchanged barbs over a disputed oilfield in the Caspian Sea.