THE GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS: RUSSIAN INTERESTS AND THE POLICY OF THE WESTERN COUNTRIES
Keywords:
Southern Caucasus, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, conflicts, pipelinesAbstract
Historically, the Southern Caucasus has been the zone of Russia’s special interests. Here passed the trade routes and economic interests intertwined. For centuries, Russia has been conducting an active policy in the region. The disintegration of the U.S.S.R. led to a radical change in the geopolitical situation in the Southern Caucasus. The new independent states—Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia—began to formulate and implement their own independent foreign policies, based primarily on national interests. Consequently, having obtained independence, they had to rebuild relations with Russia for whom, in turn, the Southern Caucasus continued to have great geopolitical, economic, military, and political importance. The affiliations between Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, developed throughout history, continued to be a factor in their relationships. At different stages in the recent past, Russian foreign policy in the Southern Caucasus employed a variety of approaches due to another factor: political fragmentation of the countries of the region, which does not constitute a singular, coherent geopolitical unit. The internal political processes in the South Caucasian countries developed differently. They faced complex economic and social problems, plagued by the interstate and intra-state contradictions: the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts. Russia was actively involved in conflict resolutions.
Downloads
References
See: I. Menagaroshvili, “Tri osnovnye problemy regiona: vzgliad iz Gruzii,” in: Yuzhnyi Kavkaz-2006. Osnovnye tendentsii, ugrozy i riski, ed. by G. Novikova, Amrots Group, Erevan, 2007, p. 62.
See: M. Kirchanov, “Russia as a Subject of the Ideology of Georgian Nationalism,” Central Asia and the Caucasus,Vol. 12, Issue 1, 2011, pp. 150-157.
See: Gruzia: problemy i perspektivy razvitia, in two vols., Vol. 1, ed. by E.M. Kozhokin, RISI, Moscow, 2001, p. 185.
See: L.M. Grigoriev, M.R. Salikhov, GUAM—15 let spustia, REGNUM, Moscow, 2007, 200 pp.
See: E.M. Ivanov, “Ekonomicheskie otnoshenia Gruzii s Rossiei,” in: Gruzia: problemy i perspektivy razvitia, Vol. 1,pp. 175-200.
See: Rossia i Zakavkazie: realii nezavisimosti i novoe partnerstvo, ed. by R.M. Avakov, A.G. Lisov, IMEMO RAS,Finstatinform, Moscow, 2000, p. 180.
See: Strany SNG v sisteme mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenii, Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow, 2008, p. 145.
See: V.B. Belov, A.A. Yazkova, “Regionalnoe izmerenie Bolshoi Evropy,” in: Bolshaia Evropa. Idei, realnost, per-spektivy, ed. by Al.A. Gromyko, V.P. Fedorov, Ves mir, Moscow, 2014, pp. 619-637.
See: Z. Chotoev, “On Turkey’s Possible Involvement in Strengthening Central Asian Security,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (28), 2004, pp. 135-139.
See: Evropeiskie strany SNG: mesto v “Bolshoi Evrope”, ed. by V. Grabovski, A.V. Malgin, M.M. Narinskiy, Mezh-dunarodnye otnoshenia, Moscow, 2005, 308 pp.
See: Rossia i Zakavkazie: realii nezavisimosti i novoe partnerstvo, p. 33.
See: Praktika federalizma. Poiski alternativ dlia Gruzii i Abkhazii, ed. by B. Coppieters, В Dargiashvili, N. Akaba,Ves mir, Moscow, 1999, pp. 28-29.
See: I. Guseinova, “Europe’s Enlargement and the Southern Caucasus,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (28),2004, pp. 39-45.
See: E.M. Ivanov, “Rol Rossii vo vneshnei torgovle Azerbaidzhana,” in: Nezavisimy Azerbaidzhan: novye orientiry,in two vols., Vol. 2, Moscow, 2000, pp. 7-20.
See: Evrazia v poiskakh identichnosti, ed. by S.P. Glinkina, L.Z. Zevin, Nestor-Istoria, Moscow, St. Petersburg, 2011,p. 145.
See: M.T. Laumulin, F.T. Kukeeva, Vneshnepoliticheskaia strategia B. Obamy i politika SShA na postsovetskom prostranstve, KazNU, Almaty, 2012, 122 pp.
See: K.P. Marabian, “Politika Gruzii po obespecheniiu natsionalnoi bezopasnosti,” Fundamentalnye i prikladnye issledovania v sovremennovm mire, No. 11, 2015, pp. 91-97.
See: M. Gusaev, “Russia and the U.S. in the Southern Caucasus: Future Partners or Future Rivals,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 1 (19), 2003, pp. 94-101.
See: A.V. Vilovatykh, A.V. Rogovaia, “Bezopasnost Rossii i voenno-politicheskie protsessy v Kavkazskom regione,”Vestnik MGIMO-Universitet, No. 3, 2015, pp. 85-93.
See: A.R. Sitokhova, “Energeticheskaia politika Rossii na Yuzhnom Kavkaze,” Intellektualny potentsial XXI veka:
tupeni poznania, No. 19, 2013, p. 35.
See: O.V. Shabelnikova, “Osnovnye prioritety vneshnei politiki Azerbaidzhanskoi Respubliki: 1991-2015 gg.,” in:
neshniaia politika novykh nezavisimykh gosudarstv, A collection, ed. by B.A. Shmelev, IE RAS, Moscow, 2015, p. 103.
See: Z.Z. Bakhturidze, Vneshniaia politika Gruzii (1991-2014): kliuchevye orientiry i partnery, Avrora, St. Peters-burg, 2015, p. 6.
See: K.S. Gadzhiev, Geopoliticheskie gorizonty Rossii: kontury novogo miroporiadka, Ekonomika, Moscow, 2011,p. 415.
See: F. Huseinov, “Yuzhny Kavkaz vo vneshnei politike Evrosoiuza,” Analytic (Kazakhstan), No. 2, 2010, pp. 38-42.
See: B.A. Shmelev, M.E. Simon, “Vliianie vnutripoliticheskikh protsessov na vneshniuiu politiku novykh nezavisi-mykh gosudarstv,” in: Novye nezavisimye gosudarstva v sovremennykh mezhdunarodnykh otnosheniakh, Institute of Econom-ics, RAS, Part 1, No. 4, 2012, p. 83.
See: K.A. Vardan, “Vneshnepoliticheskii vybor Armenii: politika obespechenia maksimalnoi bezopasnosti,” in:
neshniaia politika novykh nezavisimykh gosudarstv, pp. 149-150.
See: S.M. Markedonov, “Kavkaz—region povyshennogo riska,” in: KonÀikty na postsovetskom prostranstve:
erspektivy uregulirovania i rol Rossii, RSMD, Moscow, 2016, p. 31.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
