The thesis presents geopolitical situation of South Caucasus region in relation to Europe, with focus on the European Union. Specific geopolitical conditions of the South Caucasus led from the emergence of independent states in this area to so called "new great game" of interests of global powers. The relationship of the European Union to the South Caucasus developed in the time and in the thesis is presented on the background of this "game". The armed conflict of Georgia and Russia from August 2008 was a radical event in many aspects. And the European Union played one of the most important roles in it. With regard to a quite limited character of previous cooperation, this was a challenge for change in the European approach to the region. The goal of the thesis is whether the European Union managed to orient itself in the new geopolitical conditions of the region and succeeded to take advantage of such a possibility.

In the present body of work two primary subjects have been addressed, both individually and in their correspondence, namely 1) the potential for Neanderthals to have contributed to the Modern Human population, and 2) the genetic diversity of one of the most prehistorically impactful human popuations, the Armenians. The first subject is addressed by assessing 1000 mutations in 384 current humans, particularly for those mutations which appear to derive from the Neanderthal lineage. Additionally, the validity of the Neanderthal sequences themselves is evaluated through alignment analysis of fragementary DNA derived from the Vindija Cave sample. Armenian genetic diversity is analyzed through the autosomal short tandem repeats, y-chromsome single nucleotide polymorphisms, and y-chromosome short tandem repeats. The diversity found indicates that Armenians are a diverse group which has been genetically influenced by the various migrations and invasions which have entered their historic lands. Further, we find evidence that Armenians may be closely associated with the peopling of Europe.

A partir da obra Cossacos, romance de Lev Tolstói cuja narrativa tem como protagonista os cossacos de Grében, a tese faz um extenso estudo acerca do homem natural e de seu principal veículo de expressão, a música, fruto da relação desse personagem com seu meio. A análise se fundamenta nos escritos do filósofo Jean-Jacques Rousseau (maior mestre do autor russo) a respeito do estado de natureza e da origem da linguagem musical primeira forma de comunicação que o selvagem, incitado pelas necessidades morais (e não físicas), ter-se-ia utilizado para travar contato com seu semelhante. O capítulo inicial se atém no Cáucaso, localidade montanhosa ao sul da Rússia, onde a história se desenrola e que é palco de obrasprimas da literatura russa que precederam Cossacos. Os capítulos seguintes, então, dedicamse a elucidar por que motivo Tolstói teria representado seu personagem, herdeiro do bom selvagem de Rousseau, como um homem ávido pela música - um Homem-Música. Para isso, o trabalho se propõe a trilhar o caminho empreendido pelo próprio Tolstói, procurando dimensionar a relação do autor com a música e com esse homem tradicional que, no decurso de sua trajetória, retratou sob inúmeras roupagens. / Taking its cue from the novel \"Cossacks\" Lev Tolstoy\'s work that featuring the Grebenski Cossacks as protagonists the thesis develops an extensive study of the \"natural man\" and music, his most remarkable means of expression and a product of his relationship with his surroundings. This study bases itself on the writings of philosophe Jean-Jacques Rousseau the Russian author\'s premier influence regarding the State of Nature and the origins of musical language and, allegedly, the earliest means of communication borne out of his moral (and not physical) need to establish contact with his equal. The first chapter deals with the Caucasus, a mountainous region in southern Russia where the story takes place as do numerous masterpieces that preceded Tolstoy\'s novel. Subsequent chapters attempt to explain the reasons why the author presented his character, a successor to Rousseau\'s \"noble savage\", as a man craving for music a \"Music-Man\", so to speak. As such, this study intends to trail Tolstoy\'s own path and map out his relationship with music and with this traditional man so often portrayed, under numerous guises, in his oeuvre.

Security sector is a complex of different fields, which altogether ensure a particular country's national security, sovereignty and independence. Such security sector fields include military security, energy security, economic security, etc. For countries on the stage of transition, complex changes to their security sectors are required, which can be implemented under the form of full-scale reforms. This problem was faced by post- Soviet states, including Georgia and Azerbaijan, in the early 1990's, after the collapse of the USSR. However, despite the obv ious necessity of reforms, they were blocked in many states due to their authorities' loyalty to Russia, and its impact over the region. Due to those problems, security sector reforms in both Georgia and Azerbaijan were finally implemented only in the earl y 2000's. Georgia was able to reach greater success in its reforms thanks to the full-scale approach covering all fields of national security, with a particular focus on the military sphere. In Azerbaijan, reforms were not so effective due to lack of political will to eradicate corruption, and only superficial, but not deep, changes implemented. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The main aim of the given thesis is to investigate the impact of gender-based stereotypes and public opinion on intimate partner violence in the South Caucasus and offer the reader recommendations to change the existing alarming situation. As a theoretical background of the study, Patriarchy theory and General Systems theory will be used based on which the influences of stereotypes on the intimate partner violence in the region will be explained. While following study covers 3 countries, the cross-cultural comparison and content analysis will be used as methodological tools. The findings show that in three of the countries -Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia traditional gender-based attitudes shape the main behavioral patterns of perpetrators and victims. The intervention of western European states and increasing public awareness seems to be the most appropriate solution of the existing situation.

The purpose of this research is to address how geopolitical factors influence the foreign policies of states in the South Caucasus. Due to the recent Russia-Georgia War, this region is central to contemporary foreign policy, fueling discussions of a New Cold War between the US and Russia. With the explicit goal to provide policy relevant research on this critical region, the South Caucasus states (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia) are examined in three separate case studies. Utilizing qualitative analysis of historical event data, each case examines the role of five different variables: energy resources, routes, demography, proximity, and state leadership. That research reveals several corollary relationships. First, demographic (ethnic/religious) cleavages are found to define the borders of separatist conflicts and to be positively correlated with state perceptions of threat that follow from the proximity of foreign powers to separatist regions. Energy resources and routes define economic conflict and are positively correlated with perceptions of threat resulting from the proximity of foreign powers to these strategic points. Finally, state leadership is correlated with the value placed on demographic groups, resources, and routes in the foreign policies of the South Caucasus states and the subsequent balance of threat behavior exhibited in each state's foreign policy orientation. These findings are consequential for the discipline of International Relations, demonstrating the contemporary relevance of geopolitical variables. Specifically, the synthesis of these variables provides significant explanations of where, with whom, and why conflicts have emerged in the South Caucasus. Answering those questions is a vital step toward furthering the relevance of academic research for policy makers.

Central Asia and the Caucasus are of immense geopolitical importance for the US and Russia, but neither power has successfully established regional hegemony. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the states of the Caspian region began to develop their oil and gas reserves, and as a result their importance on the international stage is increasing rapidly. Considering the impact of events such as 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iran, alongside issues including national security, energy policies and American ambitions to limit Russian influence, Christopher Bluth explains why the US has failed to establish authority in this globally significant region. Examining US policy from Clinton to Obama and drawing on interviews with leading figures in the US administration, this study presents the first systematic analysis of US policy towards the Caspian states.

Approximately 250 nursery schools and 600 schools were destroyed during the First Karabakh War in Azerbaijan in 1988–94, interrupting the education of over 210,000 school-aged children. Of the 111,043 children until age 5, only 8,300 (7.5%) were registered in preschool, with around 90,000 children out of school and never enrolled. The purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to explore how the protracted 30-year occupation of around 20% of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian armed forces impacted the educational journey of displaced Azerbaijani school-aged children, who are now adults, during and after the First Karabakh War in 1988-94. It also examined the extent it has affected their full economic integration into society today. Three participants took part in this study. Data collection included one semi-structured interview, a questionnaire, and a follow-up interview. All participants received interview questions prior to their main interview to facilitate reflection of lived experiences. The results indicated that despite years of displacement, hardship, and trauma, the children (now adults) were able to achieve economic prosperity with resilience and high family expectations. This finding suggests that despite experiencing hardship during war, children may be able to achieve economic prosperity if they acquire critical skills to succeed in the labor market with active family involvement, becoming contributing members of society and enjoying financial stability as adults.

Why do warring parties sometimes end up occupying territories they do not claim while not occupying territory they do? How do they explain this and how can we, from this explanation, understand the logic of occupation at work in these cases? This is the puzzle and the research questions at the center of this thesis. Using a case study of the Karabakh War (1991-94) it seeks to understand the rationale behind the Armenian occupation of previously undisputed Azerbaijani-populated territories around the contested entity of Nagorno Karabakh (NK). To achieve this objective the thesis considers one of these districts – Agdam – and contrasts its occupation to the lack of a concerted effort to return control over previously Armenian-populated district of Shaumyan, a territory Armenians view as under Azerbaijani occupation. The thesis presents the circumstances and rationales provided by the Armenian leaders for these counter-intuitive policies of occupation they pursued during the Karabakh war. This necessitates examining the prior meanings of these places, the contested and changed significance of Agdam and Shaumyan since the Karabakh war. There are five distinct explanatory accounts of logics of occupation. These are accounts based on 1) military/security needs; 2) political elite-driven decisions, 3) economic gain, 4) psychological and 5) identity-related factors. Process tracing and archival research points to primarily security and psychological rationales for the original actions, whereas economic gain played a secondary role. While these factors remain significant in justifying continued occupation, today they are also strongly augmented by newly-constructed identity markers and political elite-driven considerations. / Master of Public and International Affairs

During Soviet Russia, there was an active policy of forced assimilation of minorities into one cultural identity: Russian. This loss of cultural identity came in many forms of resettlement, deportation, discriminatory language policies and economic practices. All of these policies and actions led to large groups of people from the North Caucasus giving up their unique cultural identity and adopting the Russian cultural identity. Many of the policies and actions of the Soviet Union reflected the actions of the United States during the forced assimilation process of the Native Americans. Throughout this process of losing their cultural identity, the people of the North Caucasus could have maintained their unique cultural identity at home or in the local school system, but chose not to for various reasons. This choice to shed their own cultural identity and adopt the Russian identity has had detrimental effect s on the region and some cultures are on the brink of extinction. Not all the people of the North Caucasus willingly assimilated and accepted the Russian way of life; the Chechens have fought the Russians since their first excursion into the North Caucasus and continue to fight to this day for independence and freedom. / text