Russia could easily maintain and strengthen its position in Caucasus
"I don't see that Russia's position is weakening significantly in Armenia, or even so much in Azerbaijan," Mr Cory Welt, Deputy Director and Fellow of Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.
"Thanks to its excessively punitive measures against Georgia, however, Russia has done more than NATO ever could to weaken its influence among Georgians. Economically, Russia could easily maintain and strengthen its position in the Caucasus for years to come. The question is whether it is willing and able to separate economic power from military and political power in the region, where its control cannot be taken for granted," he said.
Full text of the interview
"Thanks to its excessively punitive measures against Georgia, however, Russia has done more than NATO ever could to weaken its influence among Georgians. Economically, Russia could easily maintain and strengthen its position in the Caucasus for years to come. The question is whether it is willing and able to separate economic power from military and political power in the region, where its control cannot be taken for granted," he said.
