The change of the geopolitical realities and dynamics, the latest regional developments and the emergence of a new perception of security due to the new situation in Karabakh have changed current perspectives in the South Caucasus region. This book will provide a comprehensive introduction for students, academics, media representatives, business persons and those who are interested in the region. It will guide you through in a very readable and engaging style as it covers all the salient points and issues of the North Caucasus (the authonomous republics) succinctly and the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia) in detail. After the last development and Russian direct involvement in the Karabakh issue, the world’s attention has focused increasingly on the Caucasus region. Thus, THE CHANGING PERSPECTIVES AND ‘NEW’ GEOPOLITICS OF THE CAUCASUS IN THE 21ST CENTURY book will be an excellent introduction to the complexities of a little-known the Caucasus region and make a significant contribution to the understanding of fundamental issues of the region. As the editors, we would like to dedicate this book to the heroic Azerbaijani soldiers who were martyred during the struggle for the liberation of the Karabakh lands from the Armenian occupation.

"As Turkey's regional and global roles and influence growth, this volume provides a critical understanding of how the current Turkish foreign policy within the "Enterprising and Humanitarian Framework" operates in practice to achieve Turkey's foreign policy ambitions"--

The Caucasus region and Central Asia covers a large part of the Eurasian. Both regions, where Russia and China have a serious influence and visibility, also have a location that reflects the hegemonic expectations of both these actors. In this context, domestic political developments and even internal conflicts in the region can be linked to the policies of Russia and China to a certain extent and have the potential to affect the motives of these two powers. Although Central Asia is rich in natural resources, it is landlocked and has lagged other nations in terms of agricultural production and industrial development. Although the Caucasus is divided into the North, the territory of Russia, and the South, where three independent states are located, it is insufficient in terms of production and development. The Caucasus stands out especially with energy projects and its feature of being a commercial corridor.

Russian Foreign Policy Debates and the Conflicts in Georgia (1991–2008): Between Multilateralism and Unilateralism discusses the conflicts and crises in the former Soviet space from a historical perspective and reconstructs the often-contradictory approaches of public actors in Russia on how to deal with them. Notably, it inquires whether the actions suggested follow a “multilateral” approach—one based on pluralist decisions and international law—or, on the opposite, a “unilateral” one—concentrating exclusively on Russia’s own national interests, to the detriment of commonly agreed-on international rules. The case of Georgia, from the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the “Five-Day War” in August 2008, serves as an example illustrating Russian approaches to conflict management. Richly illustrated with empirical data, the three parts of this book show how foreign and security policy debates in Moscow and their outcomes on the ground evolved from a chaotic policy of ad hoc interventions in the 1990s to a coherent, geopolitically informed strategy of coercion and persuasion in the 2000s. About a decade and a half before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow had already shown its willingness to go quite far in defending its interests in the former Soviet space.

This book dwells upon the various aspects of the Turkish foreign policy in the different regions of the world, especially with the dawn of the twenty-first century. Turkey has attracted international attention due to a marked transformation in the country’s domestic and external realms, which in turn, has led to an increased activism in its foreign policy actions. Particularly, Turkey’s economic rise has fuelled the country’s ambition and quest for a more significant role in international affairs. These transformations have come about with the ascendance of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) [or Justice & Development Party (JDP)] to power in 2002. Turkey, under the AKP, moved towards a ‘new’ direction in the foreign policy and consequently endeavoured to play a larger role in West Asia (Middle East), the Balkans, southern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa and Asia. The country has emerged as a multi-regional player having stakes and tractions on a range of issues in these regions. The several discernible aspects of Turkey’s involvement are dealt with in the contributions to this volume.

This collection surveys the three South Caucasian states’ economic, social and political evolution since their independence in 1991. It assesses their successes and failures in these areas, including their attempts to build new national identities and value systems to replace Soviet-era structures. It explains the interplay of domestic and international factors that have affected their performance and influenced the balance of their successes and shortcomings. It focuses on the policies pursued by key regional and international actors towards the region and assesses the effects of regional and international rivalries on these states’ development, as well as on the prospects for regional cooperation and conflict resolution. Finally, it analyzes a number regional and international developments which could affect the future trajectory of these states’ evolution.

This work explores the geopolitical struggles that are currently underway in the newly independent states of the Caucasus region, showing how many players in the region are coalescing into two opposing blocs. The growing political, military and economic ties amongst the countries of these two blocs stem from a number of developments in the region, most notably the fall of the Soviet Union, and consequently the end of the Cold War and its bi-polar global alliance structure. These blocs are competing for influence in the region, and the rights to exploit and transport the rich energy resources that have been found in the Caspian Sea. The text shows how many actors have been willing to co-operate in other non-energy related issues, in the hope of receiving a financial reward when countries do decide on these matters.

This book focuses on the newly independent Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union in Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. It examines the recent economic and political developments in these states with reference to the lingering legacy of Tsarist Russian and Soviet rule, the resurgence of an Islamic political identity, the persistence of ethnic allegiances and rivalries, and the nascent democratic aspirations of their peoples.

The volume discusses what the Turkish Model, or Turkish Development Alternative, was and why it was promoted in the Central Asian republics immediately following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It argues that the Turkish Model was a myth that transferred the ideal of a ''secular, democratic, liberal society'' as a model for the post Soviet Turkic world and in the process encouraged a ''Turkic" rhetoric that emphasized connection between the two regions based on a common ancestry. The volume begins with an understanding of the reality of the Model from a Turkish perspective and then goes on to examine whether the Turkic world as a "cultural-civilizational alternative" makes sense both from a historical as well as contemporary perspective. It concludes by looking at the re-emergence of the Model in the wake of the events in West Asia in early 2011 and examines how in the light of a search for options the Turkish Model is once again projected as viable.

This collection of descriptions and analyses from scholars from Central Asia, Xinjiang, Kashmir, and Siberia gives first a general overview about the geopolitics, economics, and politics of the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) plus a details description of their foreign policy towards their neighborhood, the region, and the further abroad (Russia, India, China). This is complemented by studies on the relations between Central Asia on the one side and China, India, and Russia on the other hand. Secondly, the history, problems, and pers-pectives of the Central Asian regionalization and trans-regional (SCO, OSCE) process is discussed and evaluated. Third, problems such as Islamism in Central Asia are studied. The book is not only a coherent handbook on Central Asia but presents the views of the academic generation of the newly independent Central Asian countries. It gives a comprehensive overview about foreign policies and Central Asian relations with the big neighbors China, Russia, and India as well as a differentiated discussion on the regionalization process.