VOL. 4 (2) - SPRING 2010
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Note from the Editor-in-Chief
(pp. 101-102)
Eventful few months in the Caucasus, Russia
and wider Eurasia precede our Spring 2010 issue. Of course, the dramatic civic
upheaval in Kyrgyzstan, the suicide bomb attacks in the Moscow metro and the
victory of a more pro-Russian leader in Ukraine’s presidential elections top
the list. In the meantime, the Turkish–Armenian thaw appears to be at the deadlock.
Armenia has suspended the process following Ankara’s insistence that Yerevan
works first to find a sustainable solution to the Karabakh problem, something
for which Baku has been repeatedly calling. For its part, Azerbaijan’s government
has serious concerns that by overemphasizing the protocols and not considering
Baku’s position, Armenia and the West are thus ignoring the Karabakh issue.
At a historic summit in Baku attended by religious leaders from around the world,
including Catholicos Garegin II, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, calls
for a peaceful solution have emerged. The need for all nations concerned to
heed these calls is great
…read more
RESEARCH PAPERS
Russian Energy Politics and the EU: How to Change the Paradigm
(pp. 103-111)
by Vladimer Papava & Michael Tokmazishvili
The article discuses Russia’s aggressive energy policy towards the EU and the former Soviet republics, with its main goal of reinforcing the country’s monopoly over the transportation of oil and, especially, gas to the West. The language of “alternative pipelines” is used by Russia in the context of the “Pipeline Cold War” paradigm which creates significant problems for the energy safety of the EU by increasing the energy dependency of European countries upon Russia. In reality, the energy resource users are interested in a systematic supply of these resources. This can be achieved through the diversified resource producers and development of a mutually supplementary network of pipelines which should minimise the opportunity for using the energy resources for political purposes. This is the idea upon which the “pipeline harmonisation” paradigm is founded. The Western countries have a key role to play in the realisation of this idea…read more
Authoritarianism and Foreign Policy: The Twin Pillars of Resurgent Russia
(pp. 112-125)
by Luke Chambers
The direction in which Vladimir Putin has taken Russia over the past decade has led a number of analysts to express concern about the health of the country’s democratic transition and its increasingly assertive behaviour on the global stage. While it is clear that Putin has undermined the liberal developments of the 1990s, however superficial, and reversed Russia’s international gravitation towards the West, however incoherent, the linkages between these two developments are still unclear. This study examines the nature of authoritarianism in Russia and its relationship to the strategic imperatives of the Kremlin’s foreign policy, with reference to Russia’s great-power ambitions for a post-Atlantic, multipolar order…read more
The Georgia Crisis: A New Cold War on the Horizon?
(pp. 126-144)
by Houman A. Sadri & Nathan L. Burns
After the Russia-Georgia war, tensions grew in the relationship between Russia and the West. These tensions have occasionally led some to argue that a New Cold War may be on the horizon between Russia and the West. Others have even claimed that the Old Cold War has not really ended. This work investigates such arguments by examining Western ties to Georgia, Russia’s power resurgence, and Georgia’s role in that war. The authors claim that those, who interpret the Russia-Georgia war within a Cold War paradigm, neglect the complexities of that conflict. During similar conflicts, the Cold War is an easily comprehendible and adoptable paradigm for the West, particularly the US. Adopting a Cold War perspective, however, ignores that Tbilisi had a significant role to play in defining the 2008 war. Russia versus West tensions can no longer be characterized by the ideological rivalries of the Cold War. Moreover, the Russia-Georgia war appears to indicate a return to older forms of international rivalry…read more
Enforceability of a Common Energy Supply Security Policy in the EU: Intergovernmentalist Assesement
(pp. 145-158)
by Eda Kusku
The central aim of this paper is to present an intergovernmentalist evaluation of the prospects for the European Union (EU) member states to pursue a common energy security policy at the supranational level. Particularly, the analysis seeks to address the demands for a common EU stance concerning the issue of energy supply security. Thus, the paper leaves aside other cornerstones of a common EU energy policy, namely the issues of environmental protection and liberalization of the electricity and gas markets…read more
“Assembling” a Civic Nation in Kazakhstan: The Nation-Building Role of the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan
(pp. 159-168)
by Nathan Paul Jones
The countries of the former Soviet Union inherited a unique system for managing the needs of ethnic minorities. The question is how these countries utilize Soviet constructs to develop policies suitable for their distinct political contexts. Kazakhstan’s leaders have chosen to fashion a multiethnic civic nation and established the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan to oversee the work of creating a uniform national identity. This paper discusses major theories pertaining to civic nation-building, highlights the Soviet approach to building a civic nation, and describes how the ideology, form, and activities of the Assembly contribute to civic nation-building in Kazakhstan. Finally, it describes the author’s own ethnographic research demonstrating how people react to Kazakhstan’s civic nation-building efforts. The paper argues that Kazakhstan’s attempts to create a civic national identity are failing because it has not yet provided a consolidating national discourse as strong as socialism was during the Soviet period
…read more
Climbing the Mountain of Languages: Language Learning in Georgia
(pp. 169-183)
by Hans Gutbrod and Malte Viefhues, CRRC
In 2008, CRRC-Georgia and the American Councils conducted a small online census among mostly English-native, engaged expatriates who are either currently living in Georgia, or did so in the past. The questions were about attitudes toward and aptitude for learning Georgian or Russian, and the importance of these languages in Georgia. With 90 completed questionnaires the number of respondents was small, and the findings cannot be generalized to cover the whole expatriate community. However, they provide insight into the incentives to language learning, and the importance of Georgian and Russian for foreigners in Georgia. The results show that Georgian is important for daily life in Georgia, while Russian is more useful in a professional context. On average, the respondents have a better level in Russian than in Georgian. In addition, knowing one language did not keep the respondents from learning the other: 87 percent of the respondents with Russian skills also know some Georgian
…read more
COMMENTARY
New Geopolitics of the South Caucasus
(pp. 184-186)
by Fareed Shafee
The article examines new trends and development in the South Caucasus. The author identifies five factors which affect the foreign policy of regional countries as well as regional powers. These factors are the Georgian-Russian war of 2008, the US-Russian “reset”, the global financial crisis, the political transformation in the countries which have undergone “color revolutions”, and the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. The author believes that the change in the geopolitical layout of the region will turn the countries of the South Caucasus further from the West. At the same time, they are not going to be fully embraced by Russia. A balancing act between the US, EU and Russia will be most likely their policy choice
…read more
INTERVIEW
“Dramatic changes in the political order are typically not the province of
democracies”
(pp. 187-191)
Interview with Dr. Julie A. George, City University of New York
CRIA: Can you summarize the main findings from your book, The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia (2010)?
George:
My book examines separatist politics, looking for explanations for the outbreak of conflict in some post-Soviet autonomous republics and oblasts and not others. It also examines the waxing and waning conditions of conflicts over time, trying to nudge out similarities and differences in experiences to explain stability or absence of stability. So it looked at the politics of Chechnya, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia and their respective relationships with the Russia and Georgia from 1990-2008
…read more
BOOK REVIEW
“Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
A Legal Appraisal” by Tim Potier
(pp. 192-195)
Review by Lala Jumayeva
The book under review was the author’s dissertation paper submitted in 1998 and later published as a book in 2001. In order to make it more appropriate for publishing, Potier improved it by adding a one-page preface and a short additional final section under the heading “Since submission”, which covers the period September 1, 1998, to April, 30, 2000. Some syntax and grammar corrections have also been made. The book, therefore, consists of a preface, an introduction, thirteen chapters, a conclusion and a final addition
…read more
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