No. 115: The COVID-19 Pandemic in the South Caucasus

Author(s): Ia Eradze, Armen Grigoryan, Bahruz Samadov
Series Editor(s): Stefan Meister (Special Editor), Lusine Badalyan, Bruno De Cordier, Farid Guliyev, Diana Lezhava, Lili Di Puppo, Jeronim Perović, Heiko Pleines, Abel Polese, Licínia Simão, Koba Turmanidze
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 115
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich; Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO), University of Bremen; Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC-Georgia); Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich; German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Publication Year: 2020

This issue of the Caucasus Analytical Digest focuses on the structural challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has made visible in all three South Caucasus states. Firstly, Ia Eradze states that the sober reaction to the pandemic by Prime Minister Gakharia and the handing over of key decisions to epidemiologists was viewed positively by the country’s population. Secondly, Armen Grigoryan shows that the post-revolutionary government in Armenia was hit by the pandemic in a difficult phase of its reform policy. Thirdly, Bahruz Samadov posits that, while Azerbaijan was hit not only by the pandemic but also by the temporary collapse of oil prices under 20 US-Dollars per Barrel, its leadership decided to use this crisis as an opportunity to silence independent voices from opposition parties, journalists and bloggers.

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