Relations Between the North and South Caucasus: Divergent Paths?

Author(s): Aude Merlin
Editor(s): Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 27
Pages: 2-4
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Resource Security Institute (RSI), Arlington; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2011

The Caucasus encompasses a large variety of peoples, which were divided into a complex administrative-territorial system. During Soviet times, the main units in the South Caucasus consisted of the three Union Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The North Caucasus, which formed part of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, was divided into several 'autonomous regions or republics. Autonomous territories also existed within the South Caucasus Union Republics. While the Caucasus lacked unity during the Soviet period, the region became even more frangible after the USSR's demise because of the ethnic revival and armed conflicts that exploded at the end of the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s. Each conflict is unique and has specific origins and developments. Beyond some local attempts to build a united Caucasian entity, the main tendencies show a divided region where loyalties are short-lived. The dominant role that Russia tries to play in the region, whether by war (Chechnya in 1994-1996 and since 1999, Georgia in 2008), or the co-optation of élites, contributes significantly to this fractionalization.

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