Russia’s backyard – unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus

On Transitional Space, Unresolved Conflicts, and an Uncertain Teacher Education

Geopolitical Changes and Crises in The Caucasus

The Caucasus has seen numerous crises since the region gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some of these crises have not been resolved yet as evidenced by recent Russia-Georgia conflict. This paper seeks to analyze such crises within the framework of significant geopolitical changes unfolded by the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author argues that in the post-Sovi...

supply and demand security of energy in central asia and the caucasus

امنیت انرژی به معنی عرضه مداوم و پایدار همراه با قیمت های معقول در حامل های انرژی، که تهدیدات امنیتی، سیاسی، اقتصادی، محیط زیستی و روانی را کاهش دهد. امروزه نفت و گاز تنها، کالای تجاری نیست بلکه بعنوان ابزار سیاسی مورد استفاده قرار می گیرد.اختلاف میان روسیه و اکراین بر سر انرژی در ژانویه 2006، تهدیدی برای امنیت انرژی اروپا ایجاد کرد. در این تحقیق ما تلاش کردیم که نقش انرژی آسیای میانه و قفقاز ر...

Not in our backyard

A year ago, biofuel was a buzzword, a reasonable technical solution to many of our environmental problems. Politicians across the European Union and in North America were busy setting targets, deciding what percentage of transport fuels should be replaced by biofuels by what time. The corn-ethanol industry in the US went into overdrive, and many governments in the developing world set up fuel c...

Was Stalin Necessary for Russias Economic Development?

This paper studies structural transformation of Soviet Russia in 1928-1940 from an agrarian to an industrial economy through the lens of a two-sector neoclassical growth model. We construct a large dataset that covers Soviet Russia during 1928-1940 and Tsarist Russia during 1885-1913. We use a two-sector growth model to compute sectoral TFPs as well as distortions and wedges in the capital, lab...