IMPORTANT: You Must Read the Following Disclaimer Before Continuing
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
South Caucasus and the Global Geopolitics
3-5 February 2014- Istanbul, Turkey 717 Proceedings of INTCESS14- International Conference on Education and Social Sciences South Caucasus and the Global Geopolitics Erik Davtyan Gyulbekyan st. 38A-28, 0051 Yerevan, Republic of Armenia [email protected] Keywords: Geopolitics, International relations, South Caucasus Abstract. The research presents the analysis of geopolitical developments of the South Caucasus since the collapse of the USSR. The research aims at investigating the role of the South Caucasus in world geopolitics, the balance of power in the region and the circumstances providing the balance, geopolitical interests of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, the trilateral interaction between these states, as well as Russia, Turkey, USA, European Union, the clash of national interests of above mentioned states. Current research also scrutinizes the role of the regional conflicts (issues of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh). In order to accomplish the presentation of the topic and to provide a complete notion about the geopolitics in South Caucasus and its place in world geopolitics, a comparative analysis is given over the regional developments of 1990s and those of 2000s. Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as neighboring states hardly manage to solve the challenges of international regional relations, still leaving a myriad of issues unsolved. Due to new realities the South Caucasus has entered the first decade of the XXI century, being transformed into a geopolitically more important region as well as gaining energy and transit significance for global geopolitical powers. Aforesaid constitutes the main accent of the research 1. Introduction The whole world with its approximately 200 states is divided into continents, which are in their turn divided into regions and sub-regions. -
Regulating Trans-Ingur/I Economic Relations Views from Two Banks
RegUlating tRans-ingUR/i economic Relations Views fRom two Banks July 2011 Understanding conflict. Building peace. this initiative is funded by the european union about international alert international alert is a 25-year-old independent peacebuilding organisation. We work with people who are directly affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. and we seek to influence the policies and ways of working of governments, international organisations like the un and multinational companies, to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace. We work in africa, several parts of asia, the south Caucasus, the Middle east and Latin america and have recently started work in the uK. our policy work focuses on several key themes that influence prospects for peace and security – the economy, climate change, gender, the role of international institutions, the impact of development aid, and the effect of good and bad governance. We are one of the world’s leading peacebuilding nGos with more than 155 staff based in London and 15 field offices. to learn more about how and where we work, visit www.international-alert.org. this publication has been made possible with the help of the uK Conflict pool and the european union instrument of stability. its contents are the sole responsibility of international alert and can in no way be regarded as reflecting the point of view of the european union or the uK government. © international alert 2011 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. -
Geo-Economics
58 Volume 8 Issue 1-2 2014 THE CAUCASUS & GLOBALIZATION GEO-ECONOMICS Vladimer PAPAVA D.Sc. (Econ.), Professor, Rector of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia). Vakhtang CHARAIA Doctorate Candidate at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia). REGIONAL RAILWAYS IN THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS AND GEORGIA’S ECONOMIC INTERESTS Abstract his article examines two regional rail- The article also looks at such important way projects, one of which—Kars- aspects of both projects as construction or T Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku (KATB)—is al- restoration cost, financial and freight turn- ready reaching completion and the sec- over, profitability, direct and indirect eco- ond—restoration of the Abkhazian Section nomic benefits, and social effects. It also of the Trans-Caucasian Railway (ASTCR)— gives recommendations for improving these is still being discussed at the political level. regional railway transportation projects. KEYWORDS: railway, regional cooperation, the Central Caucasus, conflict resolution, investments, transport corridors, KATB, ASTCR. Volume 8 Issue 1-2 2014 59 THE CAUCASUS & GLOBALIZATION Introduction The Georgian economy has undergone enormous changes during the twenty years of its inde- pendence.1 Since the beginning of the 1990s, railway routes in the Central Caucasus2 have, for many, primarily political, reasons, been essentially disrupted. The conflicts that erupted at the beginning of the 1990s and continue to this day have remained an insurmountable obstacle to social and eco- nomic integration and the development of certain countries and the region as a whole.3 The prospects for restoring transport routes in the Central Caucasus are being examined not only from the commercial and social and economic angle, but primarily in the security context. -
Sogdian Merchant Scripts
Postcolonial Text, Vol 8, No 2 (2013) Rebecca Gould Sogdian Merchant Scripts Teresa didn’t want to go. She had too much to worry about, too many distractions. She preferred to let her pain incubate, to let it fester. So when her elderly neighbor Beatrice woke her up, shortly past midnight, to celebrate Easter and share a boiled egg, as red as blood, she was both irritated and bemused. What kind of person bangs on their neighbor’s door in the middle of the night to share an egg? she wondered to herself. When Beatrice informed her that her son wanted to show her Old Tbilisi, and to introduce her to the history and culture of the city where he had been born and raised, Teresa agreed. But she was less than pleased. “I’m leaving for America the next day,” she warned her neighbor, “So I’ll have to finish early.” Beatrice shook Teresa’s hand before she parted that night, winked slyly, and insisted she take another egg. “I’ll be gone that day,” Beatrice added before she parted, “But you and Irakli will have fun.” All that month, Teresa had been cooped up in her apartment. Meditating. Mostly about a man she had never met, but whom she knew better than her own soul. They shared in common a passion for certain obscure subjects, like Arabic epigraphy and Persian paleography. More than that, they shared expertise in the peculiar annotations that itinerate Sogdian merchants of early modern Central Asia made on Arabic manuscripts, in a handwriting all their own. -
Opening the Russian–Georgian Railway Link Through Abkhazia
CORE POLICY BRIEF 05 2013 Visiting Address: Hausmanns gate 7 gate Hausmanns Address: Visiting NO Grønland, 9229 PO Box (PRIO) Oslo Institute Research Peace Opening the Russian– Georgian railway link - 0134 Oslo, Norway Oslo, 0134 through Abkhazia A challenging Georgian governance initiative [email protected] www.projectcore.eu (CORE) India and Europe in Resolution Conflict and Governance of Cultures Soon after the parliamentary elec- Key Questions tion in 2012 Georgia’s new gov- ernment declared its willingness to How important is the restoration of the railway link for Georgia and Abkha- reconstruct and reopen the former zia, and particularly for the purpose of railway communication link with conflict resolution between the two? Russia through Abkhazia, which What are the political risks involved in the railway project? ISBN: ISBN: www.prio.no was interrupted as a result of the Does the new initiative meet the in- 978 978 Georgian–Abkhaz war in 1993. terests of all countries in the Caucasus - - 82 82 - - With its confidence-building charac- 7288 7288 region? - - 515 516 ter, the initiative is part of a broader - - 0 7 (print) Georgian foreign policy strategy aimed at re-establishing political and (online) economic relations with Russia, a development that would represent a significant geopolitical challenge for the countries of the South Cauca- sus. The initiative will test Tbilisi’s ability to prevent any changes to Abkhazia’s current political status and to keep the project purely eco- nomic in nature. Nona Mikhelidze Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) Opening the railway: A confidence- building measure The victory of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s coalition in the 2012 parliamentary elections in Georgia has brought about a fundamental change to the Georgian–Abkhaz peace process. -
The Role of Infrastructure in International Relations: the Case of South Caucasus
International Journal of Social Sciences Vol. III (4), 2014 The Role of Infrastructure in International Relations: the Case of South Caucasus Erik Davtyan Erik Davtyan- Yerevan State University, 1 Alex Manoogian, Yerevan 0025 Armenia. Email: [email protected] Abstract The research is concentrated on the impact of hard types of infrastructure on international relations in South Caucasus. The matter of fact is that transport, energy and water management infrastructures have always played a key role in the formulation of foreign strategies of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan. The dislocation of various types of infrastructure has highly influenced the level of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Sometimes the economic and political relations of South Caucasian republics with the neighboring states (i.e. Russia, Turkey and Iran) have been conditioned by the “quantity” and the “quality” of infrastructural development that Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan possessed. Therefore the research aims at investigating the impact of regional infrastructures on regional affairs in the post-Soviet era, simultaneously drawing parallels with the pre-Soviet period, i.e. during the independent nation-states of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan (1918-1921). The immense progress in high technologies has had a prominent impact on state communications in the scope of national security concepts of the three states. Thus, the struggle for “more infrastructures” becomes more and more important in the context of geopolitical terms, therefore the struggle “through infrastructures” is considered to be one of the efficient ways of policy-making process in the “South Caucasian concert”. Keywords: South Caucasus, infrastructures, balance of power, international relations, geopolitics 22 International Journal of Social Sciences Vol. -
Utilizing National Competitive Advantages: Challenges and Priorities" Tatoul Manasserian, Founder, Research Center “Alternative”, Yerevan, Armenia, [email protected]
"Utilizing national competitive advantages: challenges and priorities" Tatoul Manasserian, Founder, Research Center “Alternative”, Yerevan, Armenia, [email protected] Preamble (Abstract) The purpose of this paper is to examine national competitive advantages of Armenia considering major challenges and opportunities to utilize them. We investigate the role of the government in a globalized economy under current circumstances, including growing uncertainties, economic threats, as well as new priorities for the nation. We intend to reveal the environment where the government intervenes in the economy to support the implementation of major projects and solve various issues related to the national economic competitiveness. Despite the model of economic development, the role of the government has always been defined by two major functions – regulating (laws, standards, policies) and controlling (enforcement of laws, monitoring, system of checKs and balances, etc.). While government interference is not been appreciated in the phase of booming and fair competition, it is mostly required to overcome the challenges caused by recession. Before examining the role of the government in Armenia, one should consider geoeconomic and geopolitical environment of today’s Armenia - Post-soviet realities - Peculiarities of being a semi-blocKed and a land-locKed country - Uncompleted war with unreliable cease fire agreement - Strong dependence on imports and private transfers - Poor transportation infrastructure - Massive outflow of population and continuous “brain drain” - Contradicting paradigms of economic and political development - Numerous local, regional and global threats and challenges. Current realities One of the biggest challenges for Armenia’s development is long-lasting transition from the model of overestimated role of the state to a compelled choice of underestimated model of state and an illusion of self-regulating forces of free market since early 1990s. -
Iran's Regional Policy in the South Caucasus: Case Studies of Relations with the Republics of Azerbaijan & Armenia
Durham E-Theses IRAN'S REGIONAL POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: CASE STUDIES OF RELATIONS WITH THE REPUBLICS OF AZERBAIJAN & ARMENIA KOUHI-ESFAHANI, MARZIEH How to cite: KOUHI-ESFAHANI, MARZIEH (2016) IRAN'S REGIONAL POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: CASE STUDIES OF RELATIONS WITH THE REPUBLICS OF AZERBAIJAN & ARMENIA, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11870/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 IRAN’S REGIONAL POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: CASE STUDIES OF RELATIONS WITH THE REPUBLICS OF AZERBAIJAN & ARMENIA A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by: Marzieh Kouhi-Esfahani Durham University School of Government and International Affairs 2015 In the Name of God The Compassionate the Merciful This manuscript is dedicated to: My Husband Dr. H. Riahi whose love and unwavering support made this possible for me, and my daughters Yasaman and Nastaran, Who encouraged me and patiently walked along this path with me. -
REHABILITATION of the RAILWAYS in the SOUTH CAUCASUS: ASSESSMENT of the POTENTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS Volume 2: Kars–Gyumri–Nakhchivan– Meghri–Baku Railway
REHABILITATION OF THE RAILWAYS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS Volume 2: Kars–Gyumri–Nakhchivan– Meghri–Baku railway Funded by: Understanding conflict. Building peace. About International Alert International Alert helps people find peaceful solutions to conflict. We are one of the world’s leading peacebuilding organisations, with nearly 30 years of experience laying the foundations for peace. We work with local people around the world to help them build peace. And we advise governments, organisations and companies on how to support peace. We focus on issues which influence peace, including governance, economics, gender relations, social development, climate change, and the role of businesses and international organisations in high-risk places. www.international-alert.org This work has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the UK Conflict Pool. We are also grateful for the support from our strategic donors: the UK Department for International Development UKAID; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency; the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland. The opinions expressed in this report are solely those of International Alert and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of our donors. © International Alert 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. Layout by D. R. ink Front cover image: © DH Photos/iStockphoto Any photographs in this publication without sources specified were taken by Fuat Rasulov and Gubad Ibadoghlu during research trips. -
World Bank Document
SFG2732 Public Disclosure Authorized THE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT OF THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STARTEGIES OF SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI AND MTSKETA-MTIANETI Public Disclosure Authorized Third Regional Development Project Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized December, 2016 Abbreviations GNTA Georgia National Tourism Administration EIA Environnemental Impact Assessment EMP Environmental Management Plan RDS Regional Development Strategy RTDS Regional Tourism Development Strategy MDF Municipal Development Fund of Georgia MoA Ministry of Agriculture MoENRP Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia MoCMP Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection MESD Ministry of Economic and Sustaineble Developmnet NACHP National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection PIU Project Implementation Unit RDP Regional Development Project SECHSA Strategic Environmental, Cultural Heritage and Social Assessment WB World Bank Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 12 1.1 THIRD REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (RDP III) ..................................................... 12 1.2 REGIONAL AND SECTORAL CONTEXT: RDS AND RTDS FOR SAMTSKHE- JAVAKHETI AND MTSKHETA-MTIANETI REGIONS .................................................................. -
Ein WM-Rahmenwerk Aus Der Sicht Praktischer
Study Group Information Ernst M. Felberbauer, Frederic Labarre (Eds.) What Kind of Sovereignty? Examining Alternative Governance Methods in the South Caucasus 8th Workshop of the Study Group Regional Stability in the South Caucasus 3/2014 Vienna, February 2014 Imprint: Copyright, Production, Publisher: Republic of Austria / Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports Rossauer Lände 1 1090 Vienna, Austria Edited by: National Defence Academy Command Stiftgasse 2a 1070 Vienna, Austria in co-operation with: PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Study Group Information Copyright: © Republic of Austria / Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports All rights reserved February 2014 ISBN 978-3-902944-36-8 Printing: HDruckZ-ASt Stift 853/14 Stiftgasse 2a 1070 Wien Table of Contents Foreword 7 Ernst M. Felberbauer and Frederic Labarre Keynote Address 13 Chris Kendall Opening Address 23 Nadia Alexandrova-Arbatova PART I: SOVEREIGNTY BY OTHER MEANS 31 What Kind of Sovereignty? 33 Craig Nation Joint Management: Peacemaking and Peacekeeping 43 Elena Mandalenakis Models of Sovereignty in the South Caucasus 59 Gayane Novikova Conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the Light of Georgia’s Democratization and Western Integration Process 69 Irakli Mshedlishvili PART II: SOVEREIGNTY AS PERCEIVED IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS 79 Ways to Achieve Stability in the South Caucasus 81 Dalila Pilia 3 The Georgian-South Ossetian Conflict: Territorial Integrity or Reconciliation? 91 Nina Selwan Georgia’s -
Editorial Board
Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 Manana Garibashvili (Tbilisi) ANCIENT MOTIFS IN THE WORKS OF GEORGIAN SYMBOLISTS When I decided to work on this topic, I knew in advance that the sources would not be numerous. However, I believe that the period nevertheless deserves special attention as it is here that Georgian poetry becomes familiarized with ancient names and motifs. The traces of close cultural relations of the Georgian tribes with the ancient world are lost in the depths of centuries. However, they are not easy to discern in the classical Georgian poetry, which belongs to a much later period. If The Knight in the Tiger Skin may offer some parallels with the ancient world – through vigorous efforts at that – the later Georgian poetry cannot be „blamed‟ of the same: both the poets and the audience are absolutely detached from the ancient world and know almost nothing about it. The poetry of the Revival makes no mention of even a single name either from mythology or from history, which has always been quite the opposite in the European poetry. The only exclusion is Davit Guramishvili‟s Merry Summer, which opens with the struggle of winter and spring, which proceeds against the following names: “[He] had assigned Evros as the commander against Cecia; the latter was followed by Lipsi Zepiros Phoinix, Borias, Notos. Summer had Cecia as the commander, where Evros stood idle. He was followed by Argestes, Apil, ergast, Thrascias Livontos.”).1 Guramishvili may seem to be using some Russian source; however, this is not so as all the names are borrowed from Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani‟s Lexicon, specifically, the entry for “wind”, while Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani must have been the only person in Georgia having an access to ancient sources.