Mikheil Saakashvili, ex-president of Georgia, was once hailed as the very archetype of a model post-Soviet leader – smooth-tongued and sharp-suited. But was the fluency with which he promoted himself as a modern messiah merely a case of pouring old Georgian wine into new bottles?
Five years after the Russian-Georgian war, Georgian Premier Bidzina Ivanishvili has announced that Tbilisi is ready for direct talks with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is an acknowledgment of the fact that improving relations with Russia alone is not sufficient for conflict resolution. Liana Fix
Was there a secret programme to arm and train North Caucasus militants under the previous Georgian government? A clash in the Caucasus last summer exposed secrets that Georgia needs to confront, says Aage Borchgrevink
Umar is 25 and from Gudermes in Chechnya. He is gay. What can the future hold for him in the macho, dzhigit, society he inhabits? He talked to Kseniya Leonova, the first time he has told anyone his story.
Police corruption has reached epic levels in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The men in charge with tackling the issue felt they had no option but to go public, but their actions have been met with a deafening silence from Moscow, says Susan Richards
The conflict in Abkhazia has devastated the landscape. Tourism could be encouraged by restoring some of the old buildings, now in ruins, but ownership is often unclear, so they remain a stark reminder of the desperate need to rebuild the economy, while preserving the architectural legacy, says Max
A flawed presidential vote that confirms the incumbent in power also exposes anew the dysfunction of democracy in post-Soviet states, says Krzysztof Bobinski
The election victory of Bidzina Ivanishvili has reconfigured Georgia's political landscape, dominated by Mikheil Saakashvili since the "Rose Revolution" of 2003. But there are already concerns over what the billionaire leader is doing with his power, says Donald Rayfield.
The first constitutional transfer of power in Tbilisi has implications for an assessment of the immediate past as well as for the future, says Ghia Nodia.
For close on a millennium Azeris and Armenians co-existed reasonably peaceably. At the end of the Soviet period tensions erupted and they have been bubbling ever since. No need, thinks William Gourlay, because they are actually quite similar. Is it just a case of ‘must try harder’?
The eve of an election is usually a moment to predict which side might win. But as interesting with regard to Georgia's vote on 1 October 2012 may be to suggest who might lose, says Nino Nanava.
Behind Georgia's prison-abuse scandal lies a large-scale, self-funding penal system whose effects - not least psychological - pervade the society, says Gavin Slade.
