Eurasianism and the Concept of Central Caucaso-Asia

Rethinking Central Eurasia 43
The Central Caucasus: Main Geopolitical Problems and Eurasianism
The Central Caucasus region (often referred to as South Caucasus) is located
between the Black, Caspian, and Azov seas, that is, on the border between
Europe and Asia. 127 The contemporary geopolitical interpretation of the term
“the Caucasus” dates to when Russia conquered the region. 128 Russia’s
presence coined the terms “the Trans-Caucasus” 129 or “Transcaucasia” 130
alluding to the region beyond the main Caucasian mountain range if viewed
from Russia and “the North Caucasus,” referring to the territory to the north
of the mountain range. The Russian tradition dominated the international
practice of identifying the region.
The entire territory of the North Caucasus (which consists of foothills and
the mountain areas) comprises part of the Russian Federation. The foothills
comprise the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, the Astrakhan and Rostov
regions, and the Republic of Kalmykia. The mountain area is made up of the
republics of Adigeya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria,
Karachaevo-Cherkessia, North Ossetia-Alania, and Chechnia.
The southern limits of the Caucasus were always identified by the Russian
Empire’s southern state border in the Caucasus. 131 The border change was
amply illustrated by the case of Kars in the late 19th century. When the
Russian Empire detached it by force from the Ottoman Empire, Kars came to
be known as part of the Caucasus. Later, when Russia lost Kars, Ardahan,
and Beyazid, the Russian political and historical documents stopped referring
Globus, March, No. 3 (2005), .
127 Lewis and Wigen, The Myth of Continents, p. 203.
128 Nicholas S. Breyfogle, Heretics and Colonizers: Forging Russia’s Empire in the South
Caucasus (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005); Austin Jersild, Orientalism and
Empire: North Caucasus Mountain Peoples and the Georgian Frontier, 1845-1917 (Montreal &
Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002).
129 For example, Thomas V. Gamkrelidze, “‘Transcaucasia’ or ‘South Caucasus’?
Towards a More Exact Geopolitical Nomenclature,” in V. Keshelava, ed.,
Postcommunist Democratic Changes and Geopolitics in South Caucasus, Acts of the
Conference, October 17-18, 1997 (Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1998), pp. 40-42.
130 For example, Charles King, The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. xiii.
131 Ismailov and Papava, The Central Caucasus: Essays, p. 10; Ismailov and Papava, “New
Concept for the Caucasus;” Ismailov and Papava, The Central Caucasus: Problems, pp. 8-
9.