www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... This article maps my experience of “social” media precisely, except that I still see a purpose to remaining on this particular platform (perhaps because it is *not* algorithmically driven?)

projects.history.qmul.ac.uk/cerees/2026/... Happening next week: On Thursday, 16 April, I'll be speaking at my alma mater, Queen Mary College of the University of London, on the knowledge frameworks through which the South Caucasus has been approached and interpreted since 1991. Details in link.

brill.com/view/journal... [new article, paywalled] 'Solidarity on the Authoritarian Periphery: Power, Mistrust, and Social Mobilisation in Pandemic Dagestan', by Aneta Strzemżalska

brill.com/view/journal... [new article, paywalled] 'Ephemeral Diversity: Georgia’s Small Peripheral City Akhaltsikhe as a Changing Religioscape', by Rusudan Beridze

brill.com/view/journal... Recently published book review: Diego Benning Wang reviews "The Caucasus Emirate: Ideology, Identity, and Insurgency in Russia’s North Caucasus", written by Mark Youngman

brill.com/view/journal... Recently published book review: Valentine Moghadam reviews "The Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity 1860–1979", written by Houri Berberian and Talinn Grigor

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-... On 22 April Rena Effendi will be showing + discussing her new film, Searching for Satyrus, documenting her quest for a rare butterfly named for her lepidopterist father that exclusively inhabits the Armenian-Azerbaijani borderland. Tickets available in the link.

projects.history.qmul.ac.uk/cerees/2026/... If you are in London on 16 April, I'll be giving a talk about the epistemic politics of the South Caucasus at my alma mater, Queen Mary University, 6-8pm. There will be a small reception afterwards. Hope to see you there!

I can’t wait for the equivalent of a blush response test for journal manuscripts…

In the Caucasus, philology has been years ahead of the decolonial turn. This is from @rrgould.bsky.social’s magisterial “Writers & Rebels. the Literature of Insurgency in the Caucasus” in 2016.

Whenever I file my manuscript reviews on Scholarone, the idea that Scholarone is in fact the name of an Italian wine, perhaps a more affordable cousin of Amarone, briefly flickers across my mind, conjuring for a moment a sun-soaked late afternoon in Tuscany. Then I press ‘submit’.

Just arrived - another important volume on the nature of Armenia’s defeat in 2020, put together by a collective of authors (A. Voskanyan, K.Harutiunian, V. Cheterian, M. Karapetyan and H. Hovhannisyan), and it comes with a great map as well.

www.civilnet.am/en/news/1008... This is an encyclopedic new book that follows the labyrinthine trail of Armenian-Azerbaijani diplomacy on the Karabakh conflict since its inception to the end of 2025, by Hrair Balian. An important new resource for students and scholars of Arm-Az relations.

Why have journal article authors started to refer to journal subsections as 'chapters'? Does anyone encourage this practice?

Take it from a journal editor - nothing undermines confidence in an article manuscript more than a hasty resubmission within 48-72 hours of a 'major revisions' decision.

In memory of Pete, we have launched the Pete Duncan Memorial Fund, which will support PhD students at the School. Donations can be made via peter-duncan-2026.muchloved.com

This is a really interesting thread that's worth a read.

skytte.ut.ee/en/news/unit... 6-day summer school in Cyprus, 29 June-4 July 2026, run by Uni of Tartu on sovereignty & territorial contestation, secessionism & statehood bids, combining expert lectures, guided discussions & immersive field visits. Tuition in English, price €700, deadline 6 April.

arisc.org?p=12722 [call for papers] 'Celebrating 20 Years of ARISC: Approaches & Directions in the Study Of the South Caucasus', **virtual** conference 17-19 September 2026, deadline 31 March; broad thematic parameters, details in link.

In a new opinion piece, @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social argues that Iran's nuclear strategy rested on the critical assumption that the US administration preferred a deal to a war.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal... An overview of Iran's roles in the Caucasus - by Vali Golmohammadi and Hamidreza Azizi, open access with Nationalities Papers

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... This is a very interesting paper by Sascha Nanlohy about the impacts of declining oil reserves on rentier states involved in conflicts, with Azerbaijan/Armenia as the principal case study. Stimulating analysis of what might be called 'rentier anxiety'. Recommended

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... This is a good survey juxtaposing connectivity initiatives in the South Caucasus with the reality of regional fracture, by Farid Guliyev.

evnreport.com/raw-unfilter... Mikayel Zolyan's article about the Soviet-era Armenian football team 'Ararat-73' as a symbol of 'apricot socialism' in Soviet Armenia.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPXI... Full recording of an interview with the renowned Azerbaijani author Akram Aylisli by @tomdewaal.bsky.social and his literary translator Katherine E. Young. Aylisli shares his humanistic and anti-nationalist views, and other memories of a remarkable life.

freebahruzcampaign.org/news/court-s... Incarcerated Azerbaijani academic Bahruz Samadov's appeal court speech from 5 February (in Azerbaijani/ English): "as an academic who promotes peace and coexistence between peoples and states, I should not be [in jail]..."

My new piece for Strategic Europe on why the EU is falling behind in the South Caucasus connectivity race and what it can do about it:

mediamax.am/am/specialpr... Now in Armenian translation - my latest piece for @agosgazetesi.bsky.social with thanks to Ara Tadevosyan and Mediamax

For the last 18 months I’ve been pretty quiet (probably a minor mercy for some), as I’ve been completing the manuscript of the second edition of my book Anatomy of a Rivalry. It’s all but ready for submission, just a final read-through to go…

www.agos.com.tr/tr/haber/erm... Now in Turkish translation - my latest piece for @agosgazetesi.bsky.social with thanks to @yozgatedirnetra.bsky.social

evnreport.com/opinion/hono... On the elusiveness of transparency and the memory politics of Armenia's calamitous defeat in 2020, by @mariatitizian.bsky.social for @evnreport.bsky.social

As always, @laurencebroers.bsky.social has essential reading for understanding and framing the dramatic events happening in Armenia and Azerbaijan: www.agos.com.tr/en/news/old-...

www.agos.com.tr/tr/haber/old... My latest on the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process for @agosgazetesi.bsky.social

[new article, open access] brill.com/view/journal... 'Russian Eco-activists and the Question of Migrant Integration in Yerevan, Armenia', by Shushan Grigoryan

www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?do... Now available online and open access: 44-Day War: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Struggle for Nagorno-Karabakh, edited by Vicken Cheterian, to which I contributed a chapter on the diplomacy of the post-2020 period.

www.thersa.org/events/2026/... Happening on 11 February in London: 'The unquiet past: Memory, conflict and the writer’s voice', an evening dedicated to the voice of the remarkable Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli. Tickets are free but you need to register for them.

msh.ulb.ac.be/fr/agenda/co... Tomorrow in Brussels, I'll be participating in a panel discussion about the participation and sustainability in the peace process between Armenia & Azerbaijan at 18.30 at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Details in link, all welcome.

irananalytica.substack.com/p/why-this-r... This is a really useful overview of the current protests in Iran and why they matter, by Hamidreza Azizi

caucasusedition.net/reworking-re... An important collection of essays outlining perspectives on Armenian-Azerbaijani-Turkish relations post-2025, recommended.

www.france24.com/en/europe/20... Thankful that this injustice at least has come to an end. Welcome back to freedom, Laurent!

oc-media.org/opinion-my-f... Gulnara Mehdiyeva hits the nail on the head: "If Armenia & Azerbaijan have initialled a text that condemns intolerance & racial hatred, then jailing a researcher whose work has been about refusing hatred is an error that must be corrected." Bahruz Samadov must be freed.

www.chathamhouse.org/2025/08/us-i... My latest, on the Washington peace summit between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

chaotic2000s.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-fe... If you only read one take on the Washington DC Armenia-Azerbaijan deal, make sure it is this one by the invariably insightful @drkevorko.bsky.social

www.mfa.am/en/press-rel... Text of the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization agreement initialled in Washington on Friday now published - NB this was the product of bilateral negotiations without mediation and this isn’t yet signed - but the contents presumably now locked in.

top-center.org/en/analytics... Here is a cautiously optimistic perspective from Gulkhanim Mammadova on yesterday’s summit.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a... Iran registers its concern regarding the TRIPP… this was inevitable.

Having watched the ceremony and read the text that they signed, a few additional thoughts. tl;dr: it was a positive event, but a lot of pitfalls lie ahead.

Some further reflections on yesterday’s White House summit between President Aliyev, PM Pashinyan and President Trump. It was by all accounts an extraordinary day, whose time-honoured optics and symbolism could seduce all but the most hardened observers of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process.

evnreport.com/evn-security... Here is a positive analysis of today's Armenian-Azerbaijani meeting in the White House from Nerses Kopalyan for @evnreport.bsky.social (though I'd prefer to avoid the Pax Americana framing)