New Security Arrangements for the South Caucasus (RSSC SGI 26) (original) (raw)
Related papers
"After 24 February 2022: Imagining South Caucasus Security"
RSSC SG SGI 24, 2023
This Study Group Information booklet gathered the papers and policy recommendations from the 24th workshop of the PfP Consortium Study Group on Regional Stability in the South Caucasus (RSSC SG), held in Reichenau/Rax (Austria), on 03–06 November 2022. This workshop addressed “After 24 February 2022: Imagining South Caucasus Security”. February 24, 2022, will remain a landmark in European history: it is the date when Russian troops massively marched over the Ukrainian borders thereby crashing the basic principles of the OSCE-based security system. NATO and the EU have strongly reacted against the Russian war in Ukraine. More specifically, the EU has started to implement rounds of sanctions against Russia, and granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, while conditionally promising a similar status to Georgia. Experts have long ago warned that the largest geopolitical risk stemming from the new pattern of “balance of power” conflict management in the South Caucasus was that the unresolved conflicts might end up entangled with the ongoing Russia-West geopolitical confrontation. Indeed, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the ensuing Russia-West hybrid and economic wars, threatened the current geopolitical structure and arrangements in the South Caucasus, possibly leading into inherent geopolitical choices of the regional states; cancelled the prospects for cohabitation of the European and the Eurasian integration processes; and started to create geopolitical roadblocks to regional cooperation and infrastructure connectivity. In response, the RSSC SG deployed all its resources and efforts in attempting through its humble means avoiding a further East European conflagration. Now that the geopolitical collision which had been feared has come to pass, the Study Group turned its attention to what type of future, and what type of security would benefit the South Caucasus. For the first time in many years, this workshop considered also points of view which were not strictly geographic from the South Caucasus, but encompassed Ukraine and Republic of Moldova.
Current Security Situation in the South Caucasus: Wider Regional Context
EUROPOLITY. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN EUROPEAN GOVERNANCE
While unsolved conflicts in the South Caucasus are sometimes labelled "frozen", that is basically a misnomer: there is a volatile situation with a potential for large-scale violence. In addition to the persistent threat for human security, the situation in that part of the EU's periphery may potentially threat oil and gas supply routes and other transportation corridors, particularly between Europe and Central Asia. Furthermore, the situation is additionally complicated by multiple antagonisms between global and regional powers. This article offers a review of the situation taking into consideration the mentioned issues and examining the current security situation in the South Caucasus within a wider regional context. The article also examines Russia's regional interests and the attitudes of other regional actors-Iran and Turkey, and their relations with the South Caucasian countries.
International Journal of Progressive Sciences and Technologies, 2022
The paper explores the new situation emerged in South Caucasus region after the 44-days war in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, three conflicts broke out in South Caucasus, and none of them is not yet settled. This fact makes the region more unstable, deeply volatile and continually disintegrated. The political regimes of intra and extra-regional countries, especially regional autocratic ones, have a negative impact on conflict resolution and peace-building process in South Caucasus. The whole potential of this region can't be revealed and exploited without settling frozen and/or unfrozen conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. The unsolved conflicts will lead to a permanent regional instability and uncertainty by giving chance to extra-regional actors for the use of their geo-strategical interests. The regional instability is transformed into a stable tool for the extra-regional actors, especially autocratic ones, to interfere and to keep pseudo-mediation by promoting their own interests. The issues of regional communications' unblocking, borders' demarcation and delimitation as well as regional integration possibilities are discussed. The exploration of these issues showcased the need for a common platform or practically experienced concept of regional peace-building that have to be shared by all regional countries.
Journal of Eurasian Studies, 2010
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea and South Caucasus has become the focus of considerable international attention, primary because it is one of the oldest and potentially richest oil and gas producing areas in the world. The August 2008 Russian invasion of the Georgia and the unilateral recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia fundamentally changed the situation in the region. The war has created a new strategic situation. And the question is now how to handle this delicate situation in a strategically and geopolitically important region. So by controlling Georgia (in case Russia reaches abovementioned aims), Russia actually will be able to cut off Central Asia and Caspian resources. It means Russia would be able to isolate and cut off Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries and it will significantly strengthen its energy monopoly over Europe with all results coming out from that fact. So it's about major shift in the energy policy and major shift in geopolitics based on this energy policy and Russian energy monopoly. The August war in Georgia demonstrated some risks associated with the functioning of the transit energy corridor in the southern Caucasus. It also demonstrated the need for broader security guarantees for a region that is vital to European and global energy security. Paper deals with economic damage inflicted by the Russo-Georgian war in South Caucasus and its implications for regional security.
The South Caucasus and the European Security Architecture
Panorama of Global Security Environment 2010, Centre for European and North Atlantic Affairs, Bratislava, pp. 351-365.
This chapter focuses upon two sets of questions. The first addresses the transformations of the unresolved conflicts and analyzes the prospects (if any) for diminishing military and political tensions in the South Caucasus. The second set of questions is related to the passive involvement or non-involvement by European institutions in the conflict resolution process.