Attitudes Toward the West in the South Caucasus

Author(s): Therese Svensson, Julia Hon
Editor(s): Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 13
Pages: 11-13
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2010

This article examines the population's attitudes in the three South Caucasus states Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia towards Western states and organizations, drawing on opinion polls conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center. The results show that there is generally a positive attitude toward the West in the South Caucasus, with the Georgian respondents consistently expressing the most positive attitudes. In all three countries, both economic and political cooperation with Western countries and institutions is valued highly. Culturally, people seem to be comfortable about personal relationships with their Western counterparts, but also appear concerned about retaining their countries' cultural distinctiveness.

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