Twenty years after the end of the Soviet Union, the South Caucasus countries can no longer be considered “in transition.” Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia have built functioning sovereign states. But many questions remain about how well they are faring compared to the democratic countries of the European Union or the rising economies of Asia.
Carnegie hosted a two-day conference to examine the lessons learned from twenty years of independence and state-building in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and discuss the best paths of future development in the region. The conference brought together more than twenty non-governmental experts, academics, journalists, and civil society activists from the South Caucasus to discuss the evolution of human rights, economic reform, and the media, as well as the role of Western institutions in promoting democratization in the region.
New research demonstrates changing public attitudes in the South Caucasus toward human rights, economic reform, and the media, as well as the role of Western institutions in promoting democratization in the region.
Twenty years after the end of the Soviet Union, Armenia has built a functioning sovereign state, but questions remain about how well that state is faring compared to the democratic countries of the European Union or the rising economies of Asia.
The U.S. level of engagement in the South Caucasus is very high and the region as a major priority for Washington.
After twenty years of independence and state-building, Azerbaijan must determine the best path of future development.
Twenty years after the end of the Soviet Union, Georgia can no longer be considered a country “in transition.”
The governments in the South Caucasus too often fail to recognize that state-building projects cannot be completed without a strong foundation in the rule of law and human rights.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia weathered the political and economic turbulence of the early 1990s but have yet to develop fully functional market economies.
At the start of their independence the three republics of the South Caucasus faced two choices: they could build a government whose legitimacy was based on the concept of civic statehood or one based on ethnicity and nationalism.
Since independence, ethno-territorial conflicts have inhibited social, economic, and political development in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
Western foreign assistance to the South Caucasus has followed an ambitious agenda, with aid aimed at humanitarian aid, political and economic transformation, conflict resolution, and peace building.
While Georgian politics have been relatively predictable recently, the entrance of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili onto the political stage has quickly shaken up the entire Georgian political scene.
The Syrian opposition will fail to bring about change unless it develops a clear transition plan and a credible political strategy for winning over key sectors in Syria.
The Strategic and Economic Dialogue, scheduled to be held in May 2012, will mark the first formal U.S.-China bilateral dialogue since the United States announced its strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region last year.
Relations between Ukraine and the EU have reached their lowest point yet. It could be time for the EU to come up with a new plan.
Putin’s surprising decision to skip the G8 summit means that he is putting the stability of his power structure above his diplomatic engagements abroad.
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