Armenia, the Regional Powers, and the West

Armenia, the Regional Powers, and the West
Author: A. Mirzoyan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2010-04-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230106358

This work represents the first systematic study of Armenia's foreign policy during the post-independence period, between 1991 and 2005. It explores four sets of relationships with Armenia's major historical 'partners': Russia, Iran, Turkey and the West (Europe and the United States).

Armenia, the Regional Powers, and the West

Armenia, the Regional Powers, and the West
Author: A. Mirzoyan
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2010-04-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781349381241

This work represents the first systematic study of Armenia's foreign policy during the post-independence period, between 1991 and 2005. It explores four sets of relationships with Armenia's major historical 'partners': Russia, Iran, Turkey and the West (Europe and the United States).

Regions and Powers

Regions and Powers
Author: Barry Buzan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2003-12-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521891110

This book develops the idea that since decolonisation, regional patterns of security have become more prominent in international politics. The authors combine an operational theory of regional security with an empirical application across the whole of the international system. Individual chapters cover Africa, the Balkans, CIS Europe, East Asia, EU Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America, and South Asia. The main focus is on the post-Cold War period, but the history of each regional security complex is traced back to its beginnings. By relating the regional dynamics of security to current debates about the global power structure, the authors unfold a distinctive interpretation of post-Cold War international security, avoiding both the extreme oversimplifications of the unipolar view, and the extreme deterritorialisations of many globalist visions of a new world disorder. Their framework brings out the radical diversity of security dynamics in different parts of the world.

Armenia and Europe

Armenia and Europe
Author: Pål Wilter Skedsmo
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2019-11-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1788315391

Armenia receives one of the highest levels of international aid per capita in the Western world, and among the highest of the post-Soviet states. This ethnographic study, based on new primary research, looks at aid in the South Caucasus, and its role in Armenia's relationship with Europe. In particular, Skedsmo argues that the Aarhus Convention, which entitles citizens of Europe to access information and participation in decision-making in environmental matters has allowed Armenian citizens to adapt and control the direction of their country's political future in various ways – whether through protest activism or legal challenges. A new examination of aid and development, and the structures these create, Europe and Armenia will be an essential case study for scholars of development, for regional specialists in the post-soviet area (especially South Caucasus), social anthropologists, students of post socialism and development (postcolonialism). In addition, the book will be of interest for practitioners and European policy-makers, transnational organizations and others involved in development policies and projects in the region.

Azerbaijan's Geopolitical Landscape

Azerbaijan's Geopolitical Landscape
Author: Farid Shafiyev
Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2020-12-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 802464391X

Being located between the Black and Caspian seas, Azerbaijan has always been the juncture of Eurasia—with a traditional reputation as a crossroads between the north-south and east-west transport corridors—and the traditional ground for competition between numerous regional and global players, using both soft and hard power. With its vast hydrocarbon energy reserves, Azerbaijan is a country of particular importance in the South Caucasus. The region’s complex geopolitics have immensely influenced Azerbaijan’s foreign policy strategy. With the dissolution of the USSR, Azerbaijan, as a new state with fragile security, found itself in a complicated situation surrounded by regional powers like Iran, Russia, and Turkey. The book is built around several major foreign policy issues faced by the Republic of Azerbaijan since it regained its independence in 1991. These major issues include the conflict with Armenia and related matters, the relationship with the West, as well as the complexities arising from its relationship with Russia and its ties to Muslim countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021

Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021
Author: Tom Lansford
Publisher: CQ Press
Total Pages: 5375
Release: 2021-05-31
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1544384734

The Political Handbook of the World by Tom Lansford provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2020-2021 edition will continue to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country′s governmental and political makeup. Compiling in one place more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this volume is renowned for its extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system. The Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021 also provides names of key ambassadors and international memberships of each country, plus detailed profiles of more than 30 intergovernmental organizations and UN agencies. And this update will aim to include coverage of current events, issues, crises, and controversies from the course of the last two years.

Democracy Promotion and the Challenges of Illiberal Regional Powers

Democracy Promotion and the Challenges of Illiberal Regional Powers
Author: Nelli Babayan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317225198

This book examines Western efforts at democracy promotion, reactions by illiberal challengers and regional powers, and political and societal conditions in target states. It is argued that Western powers are not unequivocally committed to the promotion of democracy and human rights, while non-democratic regional powers cannot simply be described as "autocracy supporters". This volume examines in detail the challenges by three illiberal regional powers — China, Russia and Saudi Arabia — to Western (US and EU) efforts at democracy promotion. The contributions specifically analyze their actions in Ethiopia and Angola in the case of China, Georgia and Ukraine in the case of Russia, and Tunisia in the case of Saudi Arabia. Democratic powers such as the US or the EU usually prefer stability over human rights and democracy. If democratic movements threaten stability in a region, neither the US nor the EU supports them. As to illiberal powers, they are generally not that different from their democratic counterparts. They also prefer stability over turmoil. Neither Russia nor China nor Saudi Arabia explicitly promote autocracy. Instead, they seek to suppress democratic movements in their periphery the minute these groups threaten their security interests or are perceived to endanger their regime survival. This was previously published as a special issue of Democratization.

Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus

Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus
Author: Tracey German
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317069129

The South Caucasus region, comprising the former Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia occupies a key strategic location, squeezed between the Black and Caspian Seas, Iran, Russia and Turkey. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the region has become an arena of geopolitical confrontation with regional powers such as Russia, Turkey and Iran vying for influence in the face of growing Western involvement. The Russian military intervention in Georgia in 2008 not only raised questions about Moscow's intentions towards its 'Near Abroad' and the future direction of its foreign policy, it also demonstrated that ostensibly local separatist disputes have serious ramifications for regional relations and the wider international community. In this book, German explores the extent of regional cooperation in the South Caucasus, analyses the reasons for the relative lack of regional cooperation and assesses the potential for deeper cooperation in the future.

Reassessing Security in the South Caucasus

Reassessing Security in the South Caucasus
Author: Annie Jafalian
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317070712

Lying on the periphery of Europe, Russia, Turkey and Iran, and also being of interest to the United States, the South Caucasus is receiving growing attention among decision-makers and scholars of international relations. From a European perspective, the region is now forming a neighbouring area at the border of the Black Sea, as well as a corridor of oil and gas imports whose stability has become part of European security itself. As such, this volume reassesses security in the South Caucasus. It makes it possible to update analysis on security interests, perceptions and policies at national, regional and international levels through cross-national studies. Aimed at highlighting long-term defence and security trends in the region, contributors re-examine their relevance and enduring impact. They also identify changing dynamics under recent geopolitical and political developments in and around the region such as: the enlargements of NATO, the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, the creation of the EU Eastern Partnership or Presidential elections. One of this volume's distinct contributions is that chapters have been written by experts from inside and around the region, i.e. Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Turkey, with other important contributions provided by authors from France and Canada having extensive experience in the area. Students and scholars of post-Soviet states, Eurasian geopolitics and European Security will find this volume enlightening.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
Author: Michael P. Croissant
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 192
Release: 1998-07-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0313071721

Of all the violent disputes that have flared across the former Soviet Union since the late 1980s, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is the only one to pose a genuine threat to peace and security throughout Eurasia. By right of its strategic location and oil resources, the Transcaucasus has been and will continue to be a source of interest for external powers competing to advance their geopolitical influence in the region. Under such conditions, the possibility will remain for the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict to reignite and expand to include other powers. The ten-year conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been one of the bloodiest and most intractable disputes to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. Animosity that developed between the Armenians and Azeris under czarist Russian rule was fueled by the rise of a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region for which both peoples feel an intense nationalistic affinity. The attachment of the region to Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1923 became a source of deep resentment for the Armenians, and during the rule of Gorbachev, a campaign was begun to achieve the peaceful unification of Armenia and Karabakh. Azerbaijan resisted the move as a threat to its territorial integrity, and clashes that broke out soon escalated into a full-scale war that outlived the USSR itself. Although a cease-fire has been observed since May, 1994, a peaceful settlement to the conflict has been elusive. Meanwhile, by right of both the strategic location and resources and the unique security characteristics of the Transcaucasus, major external powers—Russia, Turkey, and Iran—have sought to influence the dispute according to their geopolitical interests. With the growth of interest in the oil riches of the Caspian Sea and the increasing engagement of Western countries, including the United States, the risks and implications of renewed violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan will grow. This major study will be of interest to students, scholars, and policymakers involved with international relations, military affairs, and the Transcaucasus.