Eric Jones

As former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai prepared to leave power in his final year, he made a series of decisions to restrain International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) from participating in combat operations in Afghanistan. Further, he repeatedly tightened the constraints on United States Special Operations Forces (SOF). Due to a series of incidents in which […]

The consequences for a resurgent Russia’s policies undermining territorial integrity of several states in eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia have become more apparent since the annexation of Crimea last March and during the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine. Eurasia has quickly become a battleground in the conflict brewing between, on one side, the […]

On Saturday, Ukraine peace talks held in Minsk collapsed as officials representing the Ukrainian government, Russia, and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic once again failed to reach an agreement halting the violence wracking Eastern Ukraine. The most recent sessions were haunted by acrimonious rhetoric and accusations of culpability in attacks which violated terms of previous ceasefire […]

As the security landscape continues to change throughout Europe and Central Asia, policy makers in Europe, the United States, and Russia have scrambled to keep pace. Strategists on both sides have been compelled to re-assess the consequences of the dynamic Eurasian security environment on respective national interests. Events such as the protracted war in Ukraine, the resulting […]

With the recent codification of the joint forces agreement binding Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia and Russia, observers of the South Caucasus have anxiously anticipated a similar change in Moscow’s relations with South Ossetia. As a prelude to my next article, updating the situation in South Ossetia, here I will examine the strategic importance of Georgia […]

Why do countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia matter to United States policymakers? What in the world (or at least Eurasia) is going on over there, and why is such a complicated situation of concern to the U.S. and Europe?

With the recent codification of the joint forces agreement binding Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia and Russia, observers of the South Caucasus have anxiously anticipated a similar change in Moscow’s relations with South Ossetia. You can find background on the issues involving Russian involvement in Georgia in my previous articles on Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Georgia: Russia […]

The massacre of 141 children and staff at Peshawar’s Army Public School in Pakistan has shaken much of the world. The images of bloodied children being carried to ambulances by paramedics, parents, and good samaritans have once again flooded our television screens. But only for a few moments. In Nigeria this past summer, many took to Twitter […]

In the hours following their attack on a school in Peshawar on December 16, Pakistani terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a claim of responsibility and cited reprisal for the Pakistani military efforts to root out and destroy the group this past summer. Under the orders of Maulawi (Mullah) Fazlullah, gunmen disguised in Pakistani military uniforms […]

As explained in Parts One through Three of “Beyond Ukraine”, Russia strategists have essentially calcified the country’s approach towards undermining the influence of the European community in integration efforts of former Soviet republics. Cultivating support for insurrectionist activity in order to undermine the territorial integrity of states such as Ukrain and Georgia is one part […]

In the first two parts of this series, I outlined Russian foreign-policy priorities as each relates to the state’s national interests. I have examined how those drivers have converged to begin impacting conflict zones in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the past 12 months. Over the last few months, I have focused most of […]

Earlier this week, Russia and the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia finalized an agreement strengthening ties between Moscow and Sukhumi. The agreement, signed in Sochi on November 24, deepens cooperation between Abkhazia and Russia, effectively integrating Abkhazia’s foreign policy with Russia’s and creating a joint military structure that places Abkhazia’s military forces under the command […]