CCCAUCASIAN REVIEW OF IIINTERNATIONAL AAAFFAIRS Vol. 4 (((1(111)))) winter 2020201020 101010 RUSSIA ’S PRAGMATIC REIMPERIALIZATION JANUSZ BUGAJSKI PUZZLES OF STATE TRANSFORMATION : THE CASE OF ARMENIA AND GEORGIA NICOLE GALLINA RUSSIA ’S NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY TO 2020: A GREAT POWER IN THE MAKING ? SOPHIA DIMITRAKOPOULOU & ANDREW LIAROPOULOS INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE RIGHTS NORMS IN THE DISPUTE OVER LATINIZATION REFORM IN THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN DILYARA SULEYMANOVA EUROPEAN FOREIGN POLICY AFTER LISBON : STRENGTHENING THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL ACTOR KATERYNA KOEHLER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL : TWENTY YEARS OF REFORM ALEKSANDR SHKOLNIKOV & ANNA NADGRODKIEWICZ KAZAN : THE RELIGIOUSLY UNDIVIDED FRONTIER CITY MATTHEW DERRICK “THE CURRENT TREND OF THE KREMLIN IS TO RATHER FORMALLY DISTANCE ITSELF FROM THE NORTH CAUCASUS ” INTERVIEW WITH DR. EMIL SOULEIMANOV , CHARLES UNIVERSITY , PRAGUE ISSN: 1865-6773 www.cria -online.org EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Nasimi Aghayev, LL.M.Eur. EDITORIAL BOARD: Dr. Tracey German (King’s College Dr. Robin van der Hout (Europa-Institute, London, United Kingdom) University of Saarland, Germany) Dr. Andrew Liaropoulos (Institute for Dr. Jason Strakes (Analyst, Research European and American Studies, Greece) Reachback Center East, USA) Dr. Martin Malek (National Defence Dr. Cory Welt (Georgetown University, Academy, Austria) USA) INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD: Prof. Hüseyin Bagci , Middle East Prof. Werner Münch , former Prime Technical University, Ankara, Turkey Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, former Member of the European Parliament, Germany Prof. Hans-Georg Heinrich, University of Vienna, Austria Prof. Elkhan Nuriyev , Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies under the Prof. Edmund Herzig , Oxford University, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan UK Dr. Roy Allison, London School of Prof. Rüdiger Kipke , University of Siegen, Economics and Political Science, London, Germany UK Prof. Robert Legvold , Columbia Dr. Michael Emerson , Centre for University, USA European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium Prof. Neil MacFarlane , Oxford University, UK Dr. Vladimer Papava , Former Minister of Economy of Georgia SENIOR EDITOR: Alexander Jackson MANAGING DIRECTOR: Farhad K. Rustamov The Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is a quarterly peer-reviewed free, non-profit and only-online academic journal based in Germany. The Review is committed to promote a better understanding of the regional affairs by providing relevant background information and analysis, as far as the Caucasus in general, and the South Caucasus in particular are concerned. CRIA also welcomes lucid, well- documented papers on other countries and regions including especially Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe as well as on all aspects of international affairs, from all political viewpoints. CRIA’s primary goal is to produce an efficient dialogue and exchange of ideas on the Caucasus and beyond among practitioners, researchers and theorists from the region itself and abroad. All manuscripts, general correspondence and matters concerning the functioning of CRIA should be addressed to: [email protected] CRIA is indexed in the following research databases/citation indexes: Columbia International Affairs Online, Directory of Open Access Journals, ProQuest Research Library, EBSCOhost Political Science Complete, World Affairs Online, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Osteuropa, Global Development Network, Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek, International Relations and Security Network, Social Sciences Eastern Europe, etc. CRIA is also listed in the electronic scholarly journals catalogues of the universities such as Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, George Mason University, George Washington University, University of California Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, McGill University, Humboldt University of Berlin, Hamburg University, University of Munich, etc. Interview Editor: Jesse Tatum Editorial Assistants: Bahar Baser, Jan Künzl, Elchin Mammadov Contacts: Eppsteiner Str. 2, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel: +49 69 138 76 684 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.cria-online.org ISSN: 1865–6773 © CRIA – All rights reserved. Copyright belongs to the CRIA, and written permission to reprint or republish in any form must be sought from the Editor-in-Chief. Articles published in CRIA do not necessarily represent the views of the Editors. VOL. 4 (1) – WINTER 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Note from the Editor-in-Chief (pp. 1-2) Nasimi Aghayev RESEARCH PAPERS Russia’s Pragmatic Reimperialization (pp. 3-19) by Janusz Bugajski Puzzles of State Transformation: The Case of Armenia and Georgia (pp. 20-34) by Nicole Gallina Russia’s National Security Strategy to 2020: A Great Power in the Making? (pp. 35-42) by Sophia Dimitrakopoulou & Andrew Liaropoulos International Language Rights Norms in the Dispute over Latinization Reform in the Republic of Tatarstan (pp. 43-56) by Dilyara Suleymanova European Foreign Policy after Lisbon: Strengthening the EU as an International Actor (pp. 57-72) by Kateryna Koehler COMMENTARIES The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Twenty Years of Reform (pp. 73-81) by Aleksandr Shkolnikov & Anna Nadgrodkiewicz Kazan: The Religiously Undivided Frontier City (pp. 82-86) by Matthew Derrick INTERVIEW “The Current Trend of the Kremlin is to Rather Formally Distance itself from the North Caucasus” (pp. 87-90) Interview with Dr. Emil Souleimanov, Charles University, Prague, Czechia BOOK REVIEWS “The Guns of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia”, edited by Svante E. Cornell and Frederick Starr (pp. 91-96) Review by Till Bruckner “The Caucasus: An Introduction” by Frederik Coene (pp. 97-98) Review by Alexander Jackson “When Empire Meets Nationalism. Power Politics in the US and Russia” by Didier Chaudet, Florent Parmentier & Benoît Pelopidas (pp. 99-100) Review by Samuel Lussac NOTE FROM THE EDITOR -IN -CHIEF Nasimi Aghayev Events in the Caucasus have continued to offer observers choice issues for analysis. On everyone’s mind, of course, is the lack of development in the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. The two sticking-points – the “Armenian genocide” issue and that of acknowledging Azerbaijan’s call for first making progress toward a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – have remained major obstacles in the way forward. The “genocide” obstacle has been strengthened by the statement of the Constitutional Court of Armenia that the application of the protocols signed in October 2009 should comply with the paragraph 11 of the Armenian Declaration of Independence. The said declaration determines for Armenia a goal of achieving the international recognition of the “genocide” on the one hand, and raises territorial claims against Turkey on the other hand. Ankara’s reaction to the statement has been quite harsh, since such an understanding on the part of Armenia of the normalization process wouldn’t allow for setting up the bilateral “historical commission” envisaged in the protocols – an issue, which has been regarded by Turkey as the major achievement in the whole process. Second, the hype surrounding the “resetting” of U.S.-Russian relations has also not yielded any substantial fruit. It has, however, given South Caucasian countries cause for concern, as the Obama Administration slowly – but surely – turns its gaze toward other parts of the world, and onto other global issues. As a result, Russia has now arguably achieved a greater degree of confidence, assured that the “West” is kept at arm’s length from its sphere of influence in its neighboring countries. As our Caucasus Update pointed out, the other international issues to which the Obama Administration’s focus has shifted in the New Year include (i) Iran’s nuclear ambitions and (ii) the protracted conflict in Afghanistan. In particular, Azerbaijan will keep a close eye on developments in Iran for the obvious reasons of national security and the large Azerbaijani population there. This situation – akin to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russia-U.S. relations and the Armenia-Turkey protocols – is on hold for the moment. Although these issues seem quiet for the time being, the potential for sparks to suddenly begin flying is ever present. Events within Russia’s own borders have continued to spiral out of control: the situation in the North Caucasus remains volatile after the attempted assassination of Ingushetia’s president Yunus- bek Yevkurov, and Moscow has since been scrambling to find a solution - a task, which will unlikely get easier even after the appointment of a “federal-level” leader in charge of North Caucasian affairs. Our Winter 2010 issue, then, allows us to analyze these cases in point while we catch our collective breath. Russia figures prominently in our current issue: One paper centers on the concept of Russia’s attempts to influence its neighbors, and a second on its National Security Strategy of Russia. Furthermore, another paper takes a profound look at language rights in Tatarstan, while a comment tries to illuminate the peaceful co-existence of the two major religions in Kazan and the issue’s interview is with one of the leading scholars on conflict in the North Caucasus. Finally, we present, among others, reviews of the books dedicated to the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, and to the comparative study of the power