Breakthrough or Bypass? The Quiet Transit Rivalry Reshaping the South Caucasus

01.05.2026 (Caucasian Journal). Our Op-Ed contributor for today is Anna VARDANYAN, a political journalist and researcher based in Yerevan. She specializes in international relations and security policy within the context of Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. Ms. Vardanyan has served as a media advisor to the Vice President of the Armenian Parliament and as an accredited journalist at the Constitutional Court of Armenia. Her academic background includes research at Heidelberg University and the University of Warsaw, where she was the recipient of the prestigious Tytus Filipowicz Academic Award.  

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Breakthrough or Bypass? The Quiet Transit Rivalry Reshaping the South Caucasus

by Anna VARDANYAN

Infrastructure, sovereignty, and the fragile architecture of peace in the South Caucasus

The South Caucasus stands, once again, at a geopolitical inflection point. In the aftermath of the 2020 war and subsequent shifts in the regional balance of power, Armenia and Azerbaijan are navigating a tense and uncertain path toward normalization. Among the most debated proposals shaping this trajectory are competing visions of regional connectivity—often framed in policy and media discourse as the “Trump Corridor” and the “Peace Bridge.”