INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA: A (DE)STABILIZING FACTOR IN THE CAUCASUS
Abstract
The August 2008 war and recognition, on 26 August 2008, of the independence of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia by the Russian Federation and, later, by several other countries created a new situation in the Greater Caucasus, which many of the regional and world geopolitical players have found unpalatable. Their active efforts to change the new reality run up against the recognition of independence of these two states,1 which Russia cannot revoke without losing its international prestige and influence in the Caucasus right up to possible secession of the Northern Caucasus. The above-mentioned players have no choice but to use force to liquidate the republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia; if this happens, complete and final destabilization of the Caucasus will be inevitable.
Meanwhile, neither the young republics nor the Russian Federation are making it a point to get more states to recognize the independence of the first.
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It should be said that the U.S., EU, and NATO in-sist that Russia revoke its recognition of independence, al-though they do not demand the same from Venezuela, Nic-aragua, Nauru and Tuvalu (and probably Vanuatu), which also recognized the independence of the two breakaway re-publics.
L. Mitchell, A. Cooley, “After the August War: A New Strategy for U.S. Engagement with Georgia,” The Harriman Review, Vol. 17, Nos. 3-4, May 2010, available at [http://www.harrimaninstitute.org/MEDIA/01798.pdf].
“Evrosoiuz gotov finansirovat gumanitarnye proekty v Abkhazii,” Novy Region Information Agency, 18 March,2009, available at [http://www.nregion.com/txt.php?i=30036].
“Spetspredstavitel ES na Yuzhnom Kavkaze Peter Semneby provodit vstrechi v Abkhazii,” Kavkazkiy uzel Infor-mation Agency, 14 July, 2010, available at [http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/171616/?print=true].
See: A. Bitarov, “Yuzhnaia Ossetia-2008: Evrosoiuz i ‘tretya sila’,” Osinform Information Agency, available at [http://osinform.ru/6411-andrejj-bitarov-juzhnaja-osetija-2008.html].
Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia in 2009 and 2011 and parliamentary elections in 2012. The president of South Ossetia was elected after two rounds—in 2011 and 2012.
See: “Alexander Ankvab ne pitaet illiuziy po povodu uluchsheniia otnosheniy s Evrosoiuzom,” Apsnypress Infor-mation Agency, 21 February, 2012, available at [http://apsnypress.info/news/5479.html].
Ibidem.
“How the Russian-Georgian War Has Changed the World—Interview with Paul Goble,” VOA News, 11 August,2010, available at [http://www.abkhazworld.com/news/interview/539-paul-goble-interview-voa-news-august-2010.html].
See: Ya. Amelina, “Uroki prezidentskoy kampanii v Yuzhnoy Osetii i perspektivy razvitia osetinskoy gosudarst-vennosti,” Regnum Information Agency, 12 December, 2011, available at [www.regnum.ru/news/polit/1478599.html].
See: “Cherkesskiy vopros” i vneshniy faktor. Analiticheskiy doklad, RISS, Moscow, 2012.
Circassians were actively involved in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict of 1992-1993.
A. Babitskiy, D. Polandov, “V gruzinskiy parlament postupila prosba o priznanii genotsida cherkessov,” Ekho Kavkaza, 21 March, 2010, available at [http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/content/article/1989419.html].
“Vasha pravda s Davidom Sakvarelidze: Adygsky vopros,” PIK TV Channel, 20 October, 2011, available at [http://
ik.tv/ru/shows/vasha-pravda/video/64/2459].
See: “Alexander Ankvab: ‘Otnosheniia Abkhazii s Rossiey ne baziruiutsia na tom, chto bylo 150 let nazad,’” In-terview to Yana Amelina, Regnum Information Agency, 22 August, 2011, available at [www.regnum.ru/news/
html].
See, for example: Kvakhadze, “Rukovodstvo cherkesskogo kulturnogo tsentra pod cherkessami podrazumevaet iskluchitelno adygov i ubykhov,” Prepared by Solomon Lebanidze, AntiSochi, 28 February, 2012, available at [http://
ntisochi.org/2012/02/êâàõàäçå--«ðóêîâîäñòâî-÷åðêåññêîãî/].
“Alexander Ankvab: ‘Otnosheniia Abkhazii s Rossiey ne baziruiutsia na tom, chto bylo 150 let nazad.’”
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