EurasianStudies_0110..

January-March 2010 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume II., Issue 1.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Western influence in the region as interference in its strategic sphere. The paper is an attempt to unravel
some aspects of Caucasian politics. It also focuses on the recent flare up in South Ossetia to demonstrate
how the conflict potential in the region still remains high and volatile.
Geostrategic Profile
The Caucasus region is a vast mountain area consisting of many ranges. It forms part of the
traditional border between Europe and Asia. The whole Caucasus region is confined not only to the
post-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia but also the southern segment of Russia. The
region is considered cradle of many civilizations with more than fifty indigenous peoples and languages.
The three countries in the region remained under the Czarist rule for about two centuries before coming
under the control of Soviet socialist regime in the early twentieth century. These countries also had
experienced imperial rule under Persian, Roman and Ottoman empires. It is only after the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991 these countries emerged independent but found themselves in total disarray.
Problems of boundary settlement, the ethnic turbulence and lack of stable and vibrant political system
confronted all these countries. Rules by various empires and lack of any constant source of strength have
left the region prone to instability due to endless rivalries. The region has traditionally been volatile due
to competition between Russia and Persia, China, or Great Britain.
The Caucasus gained wide recognition as the site of disputed territories and armed conflicts in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The break up of the Soviet Union had already brought radical changes in
the geopolitical situation of the region. The region witnessed a morass of ethnic conflicts and bloody
power struggles, which further impeded its needed push towards democratic development and nation
building. Whether it is Nagorno-Karabakh or Abkhazia or South Ossetia or Chechnya or disputes over
oil rich Caspian Sea basin, the region is known more as a zone of instability and bloody clashes than for
any positive development. Maintaining and consolidating stability on the territory of the former Soviet
Union remain formidable tasks, involving both domestic developments in the new states and their
external interactions. These new states are operating in conditions of enormous structural fluidity and
change. Domestically, excessive pressure is placed on decision makers in minimising conflict among
competing actors in the decision process, maintaining fragile coalitions, and reorganising bureaucratic
procedures when new approaches are desperately needed to cope with an unpredictable international
environment. (Dawisha 1995, p. 4)
The Republic of Armenia spreads about 29,743 sq km (11,484 sq miles) with a population of about 3
million. Majority of its people practice Christianity, and major languages spoken are Armenian and
Russian. Situated along the route of the Great Silk Road, it has fallen within the orbit of a number of
empires and encountered many cultural influences throughout its history. One of the earliest Christian
civilisations, its churches were founded in the fourth century. It later spent centuries largely under
Turkic or Persian control and its rich cultural and architectural heritage combines elements from
different traditions. The Armenian language is part of the Indo-European family but its alphabet is
unique. An independent Republic of Armenia was proclaimed at the end of the First World War but was
short-lived, lasting only until the beginning of the 1920s when the Bolsheviks incorporated it into the
Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Armenia regained independence but retained a
_____________________________________________________________________________________
© Copyright Mikes International 2001-2010 126