Collection “Our Neighbours and Us: Three Views on the South Caucasus"

Yerevan, Research Center “Region”, 2002

At what level internal political and social processes occurring in the countries of the South Caucasus can be compared with each other? Who will be able to regulate the conflicts? – the nations living in the region, their leaders or international mediators? Which geopolitical interests of the outer forces should be taken into consideration by the South Caucasian countries take into account and do they coincide with the interests of these countries? What does regional security and integration mean on this stage?  These and other problems are presented in the materials prepared by experts, political analysts of the three countries of the  South Caucasus and published in the collection of articles on Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan . Three experts- one from each country of the south Caucasus- were suggested to develop and analyze four topics related to the most important  issues of interstate relations in the region.

The first stage of the project “Our Neighbours and Us: Three Views on the South Caucasus”, supported by the Yerevan office of the Delegation of European Commission in Georgia and Armenia was the development of the topics.

During the second stage of the project an Internet conference was organized with participation of the authors of the articles and other researchers, representatives of international organizations. During the on-line forum, which, by the way, was the first attempt to organize a discussion in such a format, participants had a chance not only to discuss the viewpoints presented in the articles, but also to make concrete suggestions on the cooperation, to exchange additional information etc. An important out of the conference was the decision to continue similar Internet discussions, to use the common Internet space, created in the framework of the project as a space for exchange of operative information by analysts from the three countries and discussions of current events. The most interesting materials of the regional Internet conference were also included in the collection.

The collection is a kind of summary of the prevailing opinions and evaluation of contemporary processes, taking place in the South Caucasus. The book reflects three different types approaches to the problems – one with almost identical views, the second approach includes groups which have some common points in their approach and the third one represents quite polarized opinions to the problems. We hope that analytical materials collected in this book will assist in formation of favorable and mutually beneficial interstate relations among the three countries of the South Caucasus region. The collection is published in Russian and English.

The book is in Russian and English.

Introduction: L. Baghdasaryan
Editors: A. Khechoyan
Design: S. Faramazyan