With this is bound his Sluchaĭnyi︠a︡ vstri︠e︡chi (Kontrabandisty).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

La thèse a pour objet d’analyser les processus d’escalade et d’endiguement des conflits frontaliers de l’Arménie sur la base de deux études de cas qui mettent en jeu la question des minorités nationales arméniennes : l’Artsakh, disposant d’un statut de région autonome, devenu une zone de guerre entre l’Arménie et Azerbaïdjan ; et le Djavakhk, dépourvu d’un tel statut, resté une zone de paix entre l’Arménie et la Géorgie. Cette recherche permet notamment de discuter la thèse en vertu de laquelle l’existence ou pas d’un statut d’autonomie serait la condition explicative majeure des trajectoires différentes observées dans les deux zones du Haut-Karabagh et du Djavakhk. Sans ignorer le caractère essentiel du statut d’autonomie dans la transition de l’état de paix à l’état de guerre, la recherche met davantage l’accent sur les perceptions et les intérêts de sécurité tels qu’ils ont été définis et hiérarchisés par les décideurs arméniens à Erevan, à Stépanakert et à Akhalkalak. Appréhendés sous cet angle, les conflits dans le Caucase du Sud apparaissent plus fondamentalement comme le produit de deux dynamiques combinées : d’une part, une histoire continue, interrompue par la soviétisation de la zone et poursuivie à la libéralisation du régime ; d’autre part, un présent conditionné par des contraintes géopolitiques et normatives, qui ont contribué à forger les stratégies arméniennes de sécurité. Dans ces circonstances, l’autonomie politico-stratégique de la minorité – fondée sur la disponibilité de flux transnationaux – a joué un rôle déterminant dans les processus d’escalade et d’endiguement des conflits dans le Caucase du Sud. / The thesis aims at analyzing Armenia’s border conflicts’ escalation and containment on the basis of two case studies where national minority issues are at stake: Artsakh, which has had an autonomous status and became a war zone between Armenia and Azerbaijan; and Javakhk, which was deprived of such a status and kept as a zone of peace between Armenia and Georgia. This study will especially question whether the existence of an autonomous status was a key explanatory factor of the different paths taken in the two areas of Artsakh and Javakhk. Without ignoring the essential influence an autonomous status may have on the transition from war to peace, this research is rather focussing on security perceptions and interests as they have been defined and prioritized by Armenian decision-makers in Yerevan, Stepanakert and Akhlakalak. Seen from this perspective, conflicts in the South Caucasus seem to be more fondamentlly resulting from two combined dynamics: a continued history, interrupted by the sovietization of the area and ongoing since the regime was liberalized on the one hand; a present time, conditioned by geopolitical and normative constraints, which contributed to shape Armenian security strategies on the other hand. Under these circumstances, the minority's political-strategic autonomy – based on the availability of transnational flows – has played a key role in conflict escalation and containment in the South Caucasus.

The Caucasus region is an integral part of Russian history, politics, and culture, both in the arenas of internal and external policy. Throughout the centuries, Russia has spent much blood and treasure to maintain its influence in this vital region. The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the Russian government’s efforts to maintain political, economic, and cultural influence in the Caucasus and how those efforts led Russia into two Chechen wars and a brief but consequential armed conflict with Georgia. This thesis paper will briefly examine the history of Russian conquest in the Caucasus and how the region became so important to Russia, politically, culturally, and economically. The paper will also explore the effects that the fall of the Soviet Union had on relations between the Russian central government and the North Caucasus republics and how the conditions that the break up created led to the first Chechen War. The work will also examine the causes of the second Chechen War and the role of radical Islam in the conflict between the Russian federal government and rebels in the North Caucasus. This paper will also analyze the possible threats to Russian hegemony in the Caucasus, including radical Islam, terrorism, and a Georgian government that seems determined to exit Russia’s sphere of influence. The work will also analyze the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and how it impacted not just Russo-Georgian relations, but also how it helped define Russia’s relationship with the West and its role in world politics. Finally, the thesis will study Russia’s future prospects in the region, whether Russian hegemony will remain in the South Caucasus and what should be done to ensure peace and stability in the North Caucasus. / text

Thesis (doctoral)--Leopold-Franzens Universität Innsbruck, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-251).

The Caucasus is a land corridor between the Black and Caspian seas, linking Africa to Northern Eurasia, and is considered a migratory route for Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH). Numerous cave sites in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and southwestern Russia indicate that Neanderthals and AMH occupied the region, but poor chronological control meant that the precise timing of the occupations was unknown. This work involved identifying and geochemically characterising volcanic ash layers (tephra) in archaeological cave and open air sites spanning approximately 125 ka to 30 ka to generate a tephrostratigraphic framework. This framework was used to correlate the sites and assess the synchronicity of Neanderthal and AMH occupation across the region. Tephra investigations were also carried out on a core (M72/5-25-GC1) from the southeast Black Sea (that spans the last ~ 60 ka), with the aim of linking the archaeological sites to this palaeoenvironmental archive, to investigate the impact changes in climate had on the archaeology in the region. Eleven of the archaeological sites investigated (Gubs rock shelter and Weasel Cave in Russia; Ortvale Klde, Ortvale Cave, Sakajia and Undo Cave in Georgia; Aghitue 3, Lusakert 1, Fantan and Kagasi in Armenia; and Azokh Cave in Azerbaijan) had tephra, 30 cryptotephras and 8 visible layers, preserved. Twenty-two tephra layers were identified in the Black Sea core, with distinct periods of frequent volcanic activity separated by long periods, up to 9 ka, of seemingly volcanic quiescence in the region. The glass chemistry of the tephra found in the archaeological sites and the core, determined using a wavelength-dispersive electron microprobe, was used to characterise and correlate the units between the sedimentary sequences. Although some widespread tephra from the major Mediterranean sources (3.6 ka Minoan eruption from Santorini, Greece and the ~39 ka Campanian Ignimbrite super eruption from Campi Flegrei, Italy) were identified in the Black Sea core, none of the archaeological sites contained Mediterranean tephra. Most of the tephra layers in the archaeological sites investigated and the Black Sea core are from sources in the Caucasus and Turkey. The limited information on the volcanic history and compositional data of these sources in the region does not allow most of the units to be correlated to particular eruptions or volcanoes. However, some of the cryptotephra units have been correlated to eruptions from Nemrut, Acigöl and Erciyes Dagi volcanoes in Turkey. Unfortunately, there are no tephra layers that are common to the Black Sea core and any of the archaeological sites, prohibiting direct correlation of the sites to this detailed palaeoenvironmental record. However, the ~30 ka Nemrut Formation (NF) eruption from Nemrut volcano, Turkey, is found in the Lake Van palaeoenvironmental record and in two of the archaeological sites. This allows the archaeological sites to be correlated to each other and palaeoclimate information can also be imported into these sites. More detailed characterisation of the proximal deposits may allow more units to be correlated to eruptions and will enable these distal records to be used to further constrain the tempo of explosive volcanic activity in the region. A few compositionally distinct tephra layers were found and a suite of new radiocarbon dates were obtained at various sites, allowing archaeological occupations to be dated and the synchronicity between sites to be assessed. A distinct rhyolitic tephra correlates a layer with an Upper Palaeolithic stone technology, associated with AMH, in Azokh Cave (Azerbaijan) to a layer in Sakajia cave (Georgia) that contains Neanderthal remains. This is clear evidence that AMH and Neanderthals were in the region (within 600 km) at the same time. Other sites have also been correlated with tephra. A dacitic tephra correlates a unit with an Upper Palaeolithic lithic and bone tool techno-complex in Ortvale Klde (Georgia) to a unit with a Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblage in Lusakert 1 (Armenia). The Middle Paleolithic tool assemblage in Lusakert 1 is clearly different from the Upper Paleolithic assemblage that is clearly associated with AMH in Ortvale Klde, but it is not clear whether the other assemblage is associated with Neanderthals, archaic modern humans or AMH. This correlation between different lithic assemblages clearly indicates that there were different groups, with different technologies, occupying the region at the same time. The NF tephra is also found shallower in the sequences at both Lusakert 1 and Ortvale Klde. This time marker shows that the Middle Paleolithic assemblage is still being used in Lusakert 1 at ~30 ka, indicating that a less diverse stone techno-complex was used for a prolonged period of time in central Armenia. There does not appear to be any direct relationship between occupation in the region and the climate at the time, implying that this had little effect on the archaeological story in the region. A new radiocarbon based age model that combines new dates with published data for the sites within the Caucasus shows temporal overlap between AMH and Neanderthals in the region. This confirms the tephra correlations and clearly indicates both species co-existed in the Caucasus. The new radiocarbon data also suggest that AMH arrived in the region earlier than previously thought, at ~50-44 ka cal BP. The arrival of AMH in the Caucasus is now temporally similar to other early AMH sites in northern Eurasia.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Borer, Douglas ; Tsypkin, Mikhail. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 29, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: NATO enlargement, Georgia, Russia, New Great Game, ethnic separatism, deterrence, realism, idealism. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-75). Also available in print.

Violence in Russia’s North Caucasus region has not been limited to Chechnya since the early 2000’s. The generally accepted theory on violence in other North Caucasus republics is that it has spilled over from Chechnya and is associated with religious extremism and poverty. There may be other reasons, however, for outbreaks of violence in other North Caucasus republics such as Ingushetia and North Ossetia. The North Ossetians and Ingush have had a tense relationship since the late Tsarist period. Disputes over a region known as the Prigorodny region has fueled ethnic hatreds and resulted in an armed conflict between the two republics in 1992. The relationship remains tense to this day. The conflict may be playing a role in the outbreak of violence in the two republics. Studies have shown that terrorism, while an extreme tactic, is in many cases associated with moderate political demands shared by the terrorists’ community. Additionally, terrorism appears to be often connected with lack of economic opportunity and the need for solidarity rather than simple poverty. The driving forces behind conventional terrorism suggest that Russian policymakers may be misguided in their attempts to combat terrorism in Ingushetia and North Ossetia. Terrorist violence in the region may be an Ingush continuation of ethnic battles fought in 1992, but utilizing extreme guerrilla methods. Exploring the violence in the two republics in the context of an ongoing ethnic conflict may enable policymakers to better tailor anti-terrorism policies in the region. / text

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Vita. "Benutzte quellen": p. 5-6.

This dissertation is the first systematic study of Armenia’s foreign policy during the post-independence period, between 1991 and 2004. It argues that a small state’s foreign policy is best understood when looking at the regional level. Armenia’s geographic proximity to Iran, Russia and Turkey, places it in an area of heightened geopolitical interest by various great powers. This dissertation explores four sets of relationships with Armenia’s major historical ‘partners’: Russia, Iran, Turkey and the West (Europe and the United States). Each relationship reveals a complex reality of a continuous negotiation between ideas of history, collective memory, nationalism and geopolitics. A detailed study of Armenia’s relations with these powers demonstrates how actors’ relations of amity and enmity are formed to constitute a regional security complex. Turkey represents the ultimate “other”, while both Europe and Iran are seen as ideational “others”, whose role in Armenia’s foreign policy, aside from pragmatic policy considerations, reflects a normative quest. Russia and the United States, on the other hand, represent the powerful structural forces that define the regional security complex, in which Armenia operates. This dissertation argues that although Armenia has been severely constrained in certain foreign policy choices, it was adept at carving a space for action that privileged the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh over other geopolitical imperatives.