CIAO DATE: 10/2010
Volume: 7, Issue: 26
Summer 2010
Kornely K. Kakachia
Since its independence, Georgia has been one of the most vocally independentminded countries among the Soviet Union’s successor states. As Georgia’s ambitions to draw closer to Europe and the transatlantic community have grown, its relations with Russia have deteriorated. After the Russian aggression and under the global fi nancial crisis Georgia faces security dilemma exacerbated by ambivalent prospect of its Euro-Atlantic integration. Th e article explores current political challenges in Georgia and “new tone” of Russia’s diplomacy aimed to win ideological battle inside the Georgia. It also deals with Georgia’s National security issues aftermath of “fi ve day war” and prospects of Russo-Georgian relations.
OSCE Early Warning in Georgia (PDF)
Dov Lynch
Th e Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Georgia led OSCE early warning and confl ict prevention activities. Th e Mission was established in December 1992 with the mandate to promote negotiations between the parties to the Georgian-Ossetian confl ict in order to reach a political settlement. Th e article discusses the policies and activities of the OSCE in order to prevent confl ict and ensure its peaceful settlement in the country.
The Evolution of US Policy towards the Southern Caucasus (PDF)
S. Neil MacFarlane, George Khelashvili
Th is article examines the evolution of American policy in the Southern Caucasus since 1991. It begins with a discussion of the principal drivers of that policy. A discussion of the evolution of the policy since the end of the Cold War follows. Th e article argues that US policy in the region has been ad hoc and inconsistent, refl ecting ideological considerations (democracy promotion in Georgia), economic interests (access to Caspian Basin energy product and the development of US relations with Azerbaijan), US minority lobbying (US policy towards the Karabagh confl ict), and idiosyncratic leadership preference (the personal relationship between Presidents Bush and Saakashvili). Th is amalgam refl ected the weakness of strategic drivers and notably Russia’s inability to act on its hegemonic aspirations in the region. As Russian power increases, and its eff ort to rebuild its infl uence in the Southern Caucasus grows, the strategic framing of US policy may also be expected to strengthen.
Feminist Uluslararası İlişkiler Yaklaşımı: Temelleri, Gelişimi, Katkı ve Sorunları (PDF)
Özlem Tür, Çiğdem Aydın Koyuncu
Th is article aims at analyzing the major arguments, criticisms and contributions of the feminist international relations approach, which started to become important in the discipline from late 1980s onwards. Feminist international relations approach argues that there is a hidden male perspective in the discipline and female ideas, problems and changes that women go through are neglected. International Relations discipline is also criticised for being particularistic and subjective. Th is article will fi rst look at the development of the feminist approach in the international relations discipline and analyze its major criticisms of traditional theories and concepts. Th e article will later look at diff erent types of feminism and will question the contributions and limitations of the feminist approach to the international relations discipline.
1995 was a Good Year for the South Caucasus (PDF)
Gerard J. Libaridian
Th e article discusses the inter-ethnic confl icts in the South Caucasus while focusing on the policies of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and off ers an illuminating account on the role of leadership in confl ict resolution while taking into account domestic, regional and international settings. Th e author considers 1995 as the fi rst year of stabilized region and discusses the reasons why this rare opportunity for confl ict resolution in the South Caucasus off ered by 1995 was not realized.
Bâb-ı Âlî'nin Avrupa'ya Çevrilmiş İki Gözü: Eflak ve Boğdan'da Fenerli Voyvodalar (1711-1821) (PDF)
Cafer Çiftçi
The Sublime Porte’s Two Eyes Fixed over Europe: Phanariote Voivodes (Principalities) in Wallachia and Moldavia (1711-1821)
The process of 1711-1821 is a diff erent period in terms of governance of Wallachia and Moldavia. In these years, the Ottoman Empire relinquished to appoint local governors for governance of Wallachia and Moldavia and assigned as voivodes the Greek families from the Phanar working in translations of Supreme Court and navy for years. These voivodes selected from aristocratic families residing in Phanar (Fener) district of Istanbul took many important tasks in both governorship in the region they appointed and correspondences with neighbour states in terms of foreign relations of Ottoman Empire and intelligence of confi dential activities of them. In this study, Phanariotes are evaluated under light of original historical sources in terms of their positions in Ottoman Empire, their interpreting activities, their appointment to Wallachia and Moldavia as voivode, their intelligence works during period of governorship for Ottoman Empire on political developments and agreements in Europe by means of their intelligencers.
Foreign Policies of the States of the Caucasus: Evolution in the Post-Soviet Period (PDF)
Brenda Shaffer
Th e article examines the development of the foreign policies and strategies of the three states of the Caucasus-Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia—in the post-Soviet period. The article claims that ideology and identity have had little impact on the alliances and foreign policy orientations adopted by the three states. Second, the three states of the Caucasus adopted fundamentally different policies toward Russia. Third, geographic factors have had significant influence on their foreign policy options. Fourth, managing the results of the secessionist conflicts has been a major goal of their foreign policy efforts and the conflicts are a useful lever of neighboring powers. Fifth, the foreign policy making capability of the three states has expanded significantly. Last, the foreign policy options of the three states have been limited by the policies of the major powers in the region.
Ayça Ergun
The aim of this article is to analyze the process of post-Soviet transformation in Azerbaijan while focusing on the process of democratization, peculiarities of the leadership and political elite, success and failure in electoral politics, and development of civil society. I argue that the politics of the post-independence period was shaped by the conflicting co-existence of patterns of continuity and change which determined the path of political transformation in Azerbaijan.