Georgia, however, may prove the exception. It has twice offered its territory as a potential transit corridor for Western military shipments to Afghanistan -- first in February 2009, and again this week, when President Mikheil Saakashvili revived the proposal in an interview with the Associated Press.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were all in Zurich last week to ease the reportedly difficult negotiations between Turkey and Armenia. All observers welcomed the two sides' agreement this month to establish diplomatic relations and open their borders.
It's safe to say the United States and its main European allies broadly share a common view of the problems facing the world -- from Afghanistan and nuclear disarmament to the economic crisis.
Talks this week in Geneva between Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia reached a minor milestone with an agreement on "incident prevention" mechanisms intended to give international monitors access to the entire zone of conflict following last year's Russia-Georgia war.
Georgia's relations with the European Union and NATO have come to a near standstill.
Visits by senior Georgian officials to Brussels, once frequent and regular, have become a rare event.
A delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze visiting NATO headquarters on February 4 was the first of its kind to reach Brussels this year.
Even as new figures point to gains in the battle against Afghanistan's drug problem, the issue remains deeply contentious for the government in Kabul and NATO-led forces.
EU officials touring the South Caucasus this week were confronted by heated words from President Ilham Aliyev, who told them Azerbaijan is ready to "wage war" with neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
NATO members gathered for a summit in Riga have sent an upbeat message on progress being made in Afghanistan, the alliance's first-ever mission outside Europe. A number of leaders reportedly agreed to relax restrictions on the use of their troops in Afghanistan by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
From the minute you arrive in Baku, you can smell the oil.
In a glass jar it looks nothing like the black viscous substance one would expect, but more like petrol. Experts praise Azerbaijani oil as among the best in the world.
The European Parliament may well vote down an EU-Turkmenistan trade agreement later this month. The parliament's international trade committee approved a draft resolution this week criticizing Turkmenistan for persistent and grave human rights abuses.
