I am very happy to present the Winter 2009 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA).

Since our last issue in Autumn 2008, the war in Georgia has receded from the media’s attention, but its implications are only beginning to be seriously addressed by the academic community. The CRIA aims to be at the forefront of this ongoing assessment, and in this context we have a number of papers which touch upon the war and its effects upon the region, as well as a theoretical assessment of the Russian intervention. We also present two contrasting Comments on Kosovo’s declaration of independence and its implications for the South Caucasus. We are also proud to present additional papers on the Armenian diaspora, Georgia’s national competitiveness in a globalised world, energy geo-politics in the Caspian basin, competing Islamic traditions in the Caucasus, external powers’ influence upon the reform and political elites in Kyrgyzstan, as well as two topical book reviews and an interview with Dr. Martin Malek from the National Defence Academy of Austria. I would like to thank all of our authors for their time and their insightful work.
 

The CRIA is currently going through an exciting stage in its development. Our Caucasus Update continues to provide week-by-week analysis of the region, and we have become partners with a number of like-minded organizations and research institutes. In the meantime, our Review is being indexed in the reputable international research databases such as Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Osteuropa, Global Development Network, Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek, International Relations and Security Network, Electronic Library Information Navigator – ELIN@NIAS, Genamics JournalSeek and Social Sciences Eastern Europe. The CRIA is also listed in the electronic scholarly journals catalogues of the universities such as Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, George Mason University, George Washington University, University of California Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, McGill University, Humboldt University of Berlin, Hamburg University, University of Munich, etc. In the months ahead we will be launching new partnerships and strengthening our co-operation with existing partners. Also planned for the near future are a range of new features such as regular interviews and roundtables with regional experts.

Each issue of the CRIA, which is a free and non-profit online publication, is the result of voluntary and hard work of the affiliated persons. Therefore, I’d like to express my deep gratitude to all the members of the Advisory and Editorial Boards, editorial assistants, other staff members and all online interns of the CRIA for their consistent and profound engagement.