South Caucasus

After the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia last spring, the three countries embarked on very different courses of action to tackle the virus. While Georgia moved to quickly close its borders and initiated a strict lockdown, Armenia and Azerbaijan were slower to respond, though both eventually instituted lockdowns of their own. Over the last year, other events in the region have overshadowed the pandemic to some extent.

In order to commemorate 100 years anniversary since the declaration of independence of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung asked political scientists and historians to write analytical articles that would on the one hand, reflect on the main foreign and internal priorities of the first republics and on the other hand, analyze what was the impact of the short-lived experiences of statehood on the democratic political culture of the South Caucasus. The authors have analyzed the issue of legacy of the independent republics (1918-20/21): How and from which perspective are the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian republics discussed in current context? Are current political parties considered as inheritors of the political parties that existed during 1918-21 and even before? How is this legacy reflected?

In the twilight years of the 19th century, the Georgian people were faced with a number of challenges. Although the abolition of feudalism had liberated the peasantry, they had not been given land and their afflicted state remained the same.

Undoubtedly the emergence of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (ADR) was the by-product of a broad range of processes and dynamics in and around of the Caucasus, the developments in the Tsarist Russia as well as in the neighbouring countries of the Russian Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire and Persia. The elites of the ADR, both of Muslim and of non-Muslim faith were socialized in the late Romanov period. Azərbaycan dilində

For a people whose history covers a few millennia, the significance of the First Republic of Armenia far exceeds the number of years it lasted. Other than the Genocide that preceded it, I doubt that there is another period of two and one-half years that has received more attention by scholars, memoirists, and polemicists. հայերեն

Putin’s regime promotes a vision of Russia as a state of Eurasian civilisation. According to him multiculturalism is an integral part of the Russian identity. But the large Muslim population is considered as second-class Russian.

The South Caucasus is an extraordinarily complex region in many ways. The EU maintains relationships with the region for over two decades but a clear strategic vision is missing.

The three South Caucasus countries have taken different routes towards integration into the European Union. The different approaches obstruct a common action for further integration into the EU.

LGBTI individuals and LGBTI human rights defenders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are facing huge challenges as LGBTI rights issues are currently shaped by EU, Russia, and South Caucasus geopolitical and economic interests. Could the European Neighbourhood Policy and other EU foreign policy initiatives contribute to the improvement of the LGBTI rights situation in the region?