Despite the relatively small number of Muslims in Georgia, issues related to Islam and Muslims have taken on an increasingly high profile in recent years.

A nuclear deal with Iran would bring about change in the neighboring South Caucasus and Central Asia, where ostracized Iran failed to become a major actor after the end of the Soviet Union.

As a consequence of Russian and Soviet domination in Central Asia, local Islam has been considerably isolated from the rest of the Muslim world. However, the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened the door for the reestablishment of new relations between Central Asian Muslims and their brethren in other countries.

Turkey and Russia have a deeply “compartmentalized” relationship. A disagreement on one regional issue—Ukraine, Georgia or even Syria—will not necessarily derail their bilateral relations.

The Eurasian Economic Union is to date the best integrationist project Russia has come up with since the end of the Soviet Union. However, the regimes in Central Asia can’t make a decision between bitter resignation and fierce hostility, as Moscow tries to impose the project on them.

After the initial shock the Ukrainian crisis brought, Central Asian states have gradually come to the conclusion that they should continue dealing with Russia. Still, none of these states are prepared to be totally controlled by Russia.

Turkey hesitates to fully embrace the U.S.-led coalition’s actions against the Islamic State. Ankara’s most crucial hesitation relates to the Kurdish issue which plays such a central role in Turkish policy in the Middle East.

The Syrian and Iraqi crises revealed that Turkey cannot guarantee its own security without solid cooperation from its western allies. As Erdogan transitions from prime minster to president, he must recognize this reality.

Jihadist groups operating in Central Asia pose a real threat, but they are not the only or even the primary danger facing the region’s regimes.

Despite his incontestable authoritarianism, the Turkish prime minister remains the most legitimate leader in the region and a key player for U.S. policy in the Middle East.