Tags
Language
Tags
March 2024
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
25 26 27 28 29 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

"The Caucasian Republics" By Margaret Kaeter

Posted By: exLib
"The Caucasian Republics" By Margaret Kaeter

"The Caucasian Republics" By Margaret Kaeter
Nations in Transition
Facts on File Inc. | 2004 | ISBN: 0816052689 | 177 pages | PDF | 5 Mb

The book - an introduction to the common geography and history of the area - examines the three republics of the Transcaucasus - Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia - which are situated in the area between Europe and Asia, extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian seas. Today, the region's oil and gas resources, and its geopolitical importance, have attracted the attention of both Western and Russian businessmen.



For centuries, the Caucasus, the mountainous region wedged between the Black and Caspian Seas, existed in relative obscurity. However, political and economic developments in the 21st century are thrusting the Caucasus into the international spotlight. Understanding the history and the culture of the three Caucasus states—Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia—is increasingly important. Events in the region have a greater potential than ever to affect global developments. The Caucasus sits on the fault line between two of the world’s great religions—Christianity and Islam. Armenia and Georgia are both predominantly Christian nations, while the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijan’s population is Muslim. For the past 15 years, the Caucasus has proved to be an especially volatile region, in large part because of cultural differences among the region’s many national groups. Caucasus states are still searching for ways to settle long-lasting conflicts, including those in Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. If the international community succeeds in promoting peace in the region, overall global stability could be significantly enhanced. The Caucasus, in effect, could prove to be a lab that can produce ways to ease existing tension between the Christian and Islamic worlds. Conversely, if the international community fails to address existing problems it could potentially result in a rise of Islamic radicalism. Besides the issues of peace and stability, the Caucasus is important for economic reasons. Large deposits of oil and gas have been discovered in the region, especially around the Caspian Sea. Efforts to develop those resources could have profound ramifications for the international economy. In particular, it could reduce American dependence on the Middle East as a supplier of oil and gas. For about seven decades, from the early 1920s to the early 1990s, the three Caucasus countries were part of the Soviet Union. During that time, Communist authorities repressed local cultures and crushed any attempt to demonstrate individual initiative. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, all three Caucasus countries have struggled to overcome the Communist legacy. In particular, the revival of long-repressed cultural yearnings was a major factor in starting the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as in provoking civil warfare in the Abkhaz region of Georgia. Also, the Communist legacy is partly responsible for the widespread corruption and crime that is frustrating economic development in all three Caucasus countries. Older people are finding it difficult to change their ways. Younger people, especially students, are better able to adapt to the new, post-Soviet conditions. It may be that permanent solutions to the current problems in the Caucasus will require time, allowing those who are kids today in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to grow up and assume positions of authority.

PART I: HISTORY
1. From Prehistory to the Byzantine Empire
2. Arab, Turkish, and Mongol Rule
3. Czarist Russia
4. The Caucasian Republics under Soviet Rule
PART II: THE CAUCASIAN REPUBLICS TODAY
5. Armenia
6. Azerbaijan
7. Georgia
8. Common Problems
CHRONOLOGY
FURTHER READING


Ser. "One Book - One File"