Xenophon Paper No.7

Author: Sergey Markedonov

Preface by: Dimitrios Triantaphyllou

Clashes over borders and identities within the independent post-Soviet states of the Caucasus have been an inevitable consequence of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Their subsequent development and the prospects for resolution or resumption of the ethno-political conflicts have been shaped by the political trajectories of the states involved as well as the profound transformation of the geopolitical dynamics that have taken place during the last years in the region. The war of August 2008 between the Russian Federation and Georgia marked this ongoing process of the decomposition of the post-World War II global construct while sending, at the same time, a strong signal to regional and extra-regional actors concerning the security processes affecting stability in the Caucasus.

Sergey Markedonov, a prescient analyst of the Caucasus, assesses in this Xenophon Paper the possible implications of the August 2008 “five day war”. He initiates a discussion on the region’s “unfreezing of the conflicts” and provides an in-depth description of the existent non-recognised state entities and the other ethno-political conflicts with which the Caucasus is ridden. The author also explores the perspectives of major regional and extra-regional stakeholders in the area and the ambitious policies they deploy at the moment: the Russian stabilisation project, the American “Greater Middle East” project and the European Union social and economic (soft security) project

The edition is available here.