Russia and the United States in the Caucasus: cooperation and competition

Abstract

Today, the Caucasus region receives much less attention among scholars and decision-makers than a few years ago. Eurasian security studies are currently dominated by the coverage of the armed conflict in east Ukraine and the turbulence in the Middle East. The South Caucasus, however, remains rather unstable due to its geopolitical fragility. As Russia and the United States (US) find themselves in the midst of the most severe crisis in their relations since the end of the Cold War, their relationship in this sensitive part of Eurasia deserves every attention. While looking in this paper at the bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington in the Caucasus region, the authors seek to avoid framing the present state of the relationship as a second edition of the Cold War. Instead, the basic reasons for disagreements between Russia and the US in the Caucasus since the dissolution of the USSR are critically examined. The authors also aim to explain specific reasons driving Russia’s and the US’ respective engagements in regional security issues. They also focus on similarities and specifics of the US and Russian policies vis-à-vis regional ethno-political conflict resolution processes in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia's Caucasian Interests Throughout the Centuries and Georgia

“…With the will and financial support of US state structures, well-known trans-Caucasian oil and gas pipelines started functioning. As S. Markedonov and M. Suchkov write, the US attitude has gone beyond "get-to-know-the region" phase and developed into a building partnerships [24]. Today, developments in the South Caucasus and around it are no longer measured through regional frameworks and have, rather, become indispensable parts of global processes.…”

Informing adaptation strategy through mapping the dynamics linking climate change, health, and other human systems: Case studies from Georgia, Lebanon, Mozambique and Costa Rica

“…Country profile. Georgia is a post-Soviet upper-middle-income country located in the South Caucasus, a region characterised by instability and economic challenges [19,20]. It is rated as moderately fragile on the Fragile State Index (FSI) [21], with progressive erosion of state legitimacy and aspects of community cohesion.…”

Current Approaches in Social Sciences

“…Furthermore, fundamental attribution error is at play (cf. Beukel, 1992;Markedonov, & Suchkov, 2020;Reynolds, 2015): U.S. attributes China's military build-up to hostile intentions rather than circumstances (Moore, 2010). Same holds for Indonesian officials (Yeremia, 2020).…”