The thesis aims to discuss effectiveness of the international conflict resolution in the region of the South Caucasus, analyzing the challenges to international efforts to solve the three conflict cases: the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is among the frozen disputes in the region, the others Abkhazia and the South Ossetia are nominally independent states, however de facto occupied by Russia. It is the fact that three regional players Russia, Turkey and Iran and global players Russia, US, EU have different type of impacts to conflict settlements in the region which directly relate to their political and economic interests. Therefore, after two decades of mediation by powerful states provided no final resolution with numerous attempts at mediation, wherein the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has taken the lead. The complicated and interdepended relations of states make this region highly sensitive area for war and peace in the world theatrical chessboard. Author also analyzes the effectiveness of conflict management between the parties by focusing on conflicts in the South Caucasus region mentioning their historical, political, security and ethnic dimensions, where international organizations, namely OSCE, UN, EU involve.

This thesis aims to explore the Transdniestr conflict in Moldova by examining the involvements of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Russian Federation in their attempts at finding a working solution to this conflict. The thesis focuses on the reasons for the emergence of the Transdniestr conflict, the initiatives for the settlement of this conflict, and the causes, as of today, why the conflicting parties and the mediators have not been successful in reaching a working settlement. Contrary to the line of thinking on this conflict which suggests that the conflict has its roots in domestic factors in Moldova and Transdniestr such as ethnicity, socio-economic underdevelopment and the weakness of democratic institutions, this thesis argues that the primary reason behind the persistence of this conflict is international. It is the radically different definitions of the conflict by the OSCE and the Russian Federation that makes the conflict very difficult to solve. Russia tends to value the Transdniestr region as a geostrategic tool for maintaining its influence over post-Soviet Moldova and its neighbourhood. Since the involvement of the OSCE in this conflict limits Russia&rsquo / s capacity to use the Transdniestr region as a geostrategic tool, it becomes extremely difficult to alter the status quo that contributes to the existing impasse rather than to its opening of new avenues for the peaceful settlement of this conflict.

Scholars in the peace and conflict field oftentimes argue that peace is somewhat underconceptualised. The Varieties of Peace network has made a substantial effort in furthering the conceptualisation of peace by creating a comprehensive framework, theorising peace as three different approaches: situational, relational and ideational. In this thesis, I explored how this framework can be applied in an empirical context and how the approaches relate to each other; testing the internal validity and assumptions of the framework. By shifting the common focus of peace from stability to a dynamic process of change, I studied how peace changes in an empirical context that is typically understood as static: frozen conflicts. In a case study on Abkhazia from 1994-2008, I used process-tracing to study how the three approaches relate to each other, either harmoniously or with dissonance, and to describe the changes of peace in a frozen conflict. I conclude that the Varieties of Peace framework has proven to be useful when studying the dynamics of peace and how it changes in a post-conflict setting. It has been especially useful in capturing the cyclical dynamic of change in a frozen conflict. The framework has comparative and comprehensive advantages in studying the peace as a complex, dynamic process, but inhibits some issues regarding the trade-off between complexity and parsimony and concerning the internal validity. Further research is needed in order to utilise its full potential as a framework that can be used to systematically study the varieties of peace in the world.

This thesis examines constraints of the EU’s engagement in the frozen conflicts of the South Caucasus, namely, the Abkhazia, the South Ossetia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. The study begins with a puzzle in which the EU’s ambition for prioritizing the resolution of frozen conflicts mismatches with the reality related to the status quo of frozen conflicts. By using an abductive reasoning in an observed surprising fact, the research highlights that the complexity of the region can be the main contributor to the EU’s limitations.   With this purpose, the ENP as a normative power of the EU is analyzed to identify how the EU is attempting to be a major actor in the region in order to secure its borders. Subsequently, the limitations of the EU in engaging in frozen conflicts are examined from ‘security dilemma’, ‘balance of power’ and ‘bandwagoning’ neorealism perspectives together with a comparative study on the three conflicts. The results show that the complexity of the region is a principal constraint for the EU. In particular, geopolitical rivalries with Russia and small states with their alliances contribute to the complexity of the region. However, this study also explores the idea that the complexity of the region is not only the best explanation for the EU’s limitations, but also the EU’s structure per se creates a lack of credibility with relations to the respective Caucasian states. For future studies, I suggest that the analysis of the social learning mechanism of the EU will be an asset for understanding the region and avoiding Eurocentric approaches towards Caucasian political systems and people. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, policymakers can consider that it is possible to change the EU’s low profile either by having clear strategies concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or replacing one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group with the EU.

This thesis deals with role of the European Union in the ethnic conflicts of South Caucasus, notably in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In the first part, the author concentrates on the evolution of situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as on the role of international actors in these territories, before the outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008. The master thesis continues with the analysis of the EU's engagement in break-away territories where author focuses on the evaluation of specific policies and instruments used by the EU towards the two ethnic territories and Georgia. The final section assesses the EU's responsiveness during the Russian-Georgian war and also the steps taken in the period after the violence. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to evaluate the Union's policies in South Ossetia and Abkhazia before, during and after the breakthrough war in August 2008. In this context, the author concludes that EU policies have failed because of unability to prevent a renewed outbreak of violence. Failure depended on the EU's reluctance to get involved in political and security issues and also on Russia's influence on decision-making process of the EU member states.

This thesis analyses the impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the foreign policy of Armenia. It could be claimed that Armenia&rsquo / s relations with the other countries have been shaped by the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The thesis demonstrates that because of this conflict, Armenian foreign policy has become more dependent on Russia and the Armenian diaspora in Russia, France and the United States despite its desire to be an independent state. Although Levon Ter-Petrossian and Robert Kocharian have advocated different foreign policies, their actions have been similar due to the impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The thesis has six main chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. The second chapter explores history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In the third chapter the Armenian foreign policy under Levon Ter-Petrossian is examined. The fourth chapter discusses the foreign policy of Robert Kocharian. In the fifth chapter the foreign policies of the Ter-Petrossian and Kocharian are compared. The sixth chapter is the conclusion.

After the fall of the Soviet Union a number of violent ethnic disputes were concluded through the establishment of ceasefires but have yet to be finalized through peace accords. This development resulted in the creation of de facto states in a setting known as ‘frozen conflicts’. These de facto states have managed to endure decades of unrecognition, stuck in a situation of “no war, no peace” and constitutes today “effective” political entities. The post-war development in these frozen conflicts has continuously surprised academia, defying pessimistic prediction of their sustainability. Following the positive, hybridized peace etymology laid out by Oliver Richmond, this thesis aims at exploring the peace- and state processes that has occurred during the Nagorno Karabakh peace process in order to explain the ambiguous developments that have been going on despite the limbo-like state of unrecognition. The relation between external and internal processes is interrogated through a periodization of key events, and thereafter a comprehensive analysis of how the processes relate to each other over time. The thesis concludes that the strong presence of identity politics regarding the historical Nagorno Karabakh favors the often violent and protective state formation process but is at least partially controlled by the international attempts at peace building. Local formations of peace do not allow for a reintegration of Nagorno Karabakh into Azerbaijan, at least not without explicit and extensive security and autonomy guarantees. Likewise, the external processes of peace and state building does not allow for local agency from Nagorno Karabakh, as it is viewed through a negative ontology of peace. The processes does provide some rather successful developments, as the almost finalized Land swap deal and the Madrid principles, but lacks the momentum of conquering the dominance of perceived or actualized violent state formation processes.

The dissertation deals with the state of the relations between the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Russian Federation. The main questions to be addressed are: "Has the Russian attitude towards the OSCE changed? How has Russia dealt with the OSCE in the last years? Do the OSCE security commitments play any role in the formation of the Russian foreign policy?" To answer these questions different approaches from international relations theories have been used, but especially, those that better reflect the importance of national constrains in foreign affairs. The formation of national interests is therefore, a key element to understand and assess the evolution of the Russian foreign policy and, subsequently, the evolution of the OSCE- Russia relations. A case of study is included to show better how Russian policies upon the OSCE have evolved from a positive engagement towards scepticism about the future of Russia within the Organisation. 1