The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) South Caucasus has recently published a new book with contributions from a number of prominent experts and analysts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The 370-page book was the culmination of a longer term intensive project involving several collaborative meetings and seminars among the authors aimed at formulating a comprehensive strategic vision of the region, with a focus on the political, economic and security dimensions of the South Caucasus.
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In a brief four-page policy memo, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) called for greater engagement by the European Union in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and issued a set of policy recommendations (see attached).
The policy memo, entitled, “The danger of deadlock: The imperative for European Union engagement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” was published on 15 August 2013 by the Commonspace.eu Blog. http://commonspace.eu/eng/news/6/id2760
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Report Summary
Five years since the sudden outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia on August 7, 2008, the regional landscape of the South Caucasus has shifted significantly. The direct impact of the Georgia-Russia war was profound, and resulted in the Russian recognition of the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a setback to Georgian aspirations to join the NATO alliance, and a dramatic escalation of tension between Moscow and Tbilisi. Each of these developments came amid the backdrop of both a projection of Russian power and a consolidation of Russian influence throughout much of the South Caucasus.
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Issue No. 51/52
17 June 2013
“The South Caucasus between the EU and the Eurasian Union”
Authors: Iris Kempe, Temuri Yakobashvili, Fyodor Lukyanov, Richard Giragosian, Vugar Bayramov, Anar Valiyev
Editors: Jeronim Perović, Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Heiko Pleines, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung
Report Summary
In the wake of the recent revelation that Russia has begun the delivery of some $1 billion in arms and weapons systems to Azerbaijan , there is renewed concern over a possible shift in the already delicate regional balance of power in the volatile South Caucasus. Although this new arms deal does provide Azerbaijan with a significant amount of offensive weapons from Russia, including battle tanks, heavy artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers, in strictly military terms, it is not sufficient to impact the balance of power on its own.
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