Khatchik Der Ghoukassian

For more than six months, the South Caucasus has been locked in a significant period of political transition. Each of the region’s three states, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, has faced a daunting set of internal obstacles and challenges during this transitional period, compounded by a varying degree of incomplete or weakened statehood, systemic corruption and a pronounced trend of authoritarian rule. Each state also faces greater insecurity and vulnerability stemming from the dramatic shift in regional geopolitics in the wake of the new post-September 11 strategic landscape, and remains hostage to the course of the new U....

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, leading analysts heralded the beginning of a new era in international relations. The post-Cold War ended ‘dramatically,’ wrote the Argentine expert in international politics, Juan Gabriel Tokatlian. British historian John Gray, went further to sustain that ’the era of globalization is over,’ and U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, even compared the forthcoming period to that of 1945-1947....

It is now clear that the “War On Terrorism” (WOT), declared after the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, will not end with the final defeat of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan nor with the dismantling of the Bin Laden-led “Al-Qaida” terrorist network, but will carry on to a next stage, still to be determined. For much of the developing world, the priority is to stake out a secure place within this new geopolitical matrix, a priority necessitated by the U....

Completing a five-day visit to the United States, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze met with U.S. President George Bush and other senior Administration officials in the White House on Friday, October 5th. The Shevardnadze visit to Washington, although scheduled since late August, was an important opportunity for the Georgian president to attempt to determine his country’s position within the new realities of the post-September 11th U.S. policy in the region. In the meetings and speeches of his visit to the United States, President Shevardnadze was anxious to demonstrate his nation’s strategic value in the face of an evolving U....

The aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, have left most Americans convinced that the country will no longer be the same. Such sentiment is also true for much of the world. Had these attacks occurred in any other country the impact would certainly not be as global. But by hitting the world’s only superpower at the very heart of its most important institutions, the attacks have rocked the very foundations of global stability....

Much has been written in recent weeks concerning the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (hereafter, the TARC) and its rather sudden appearance as an influential actor in Armenian foreign policy, namely representatives. Although there has been a flurry of commentary and analyses regarding the TARC, - overwhelmingly critical, - there are several important points that recent debate has not adequately covered. It is our intention, therefore, to frame the issue within a broader context, with an intention to formulate a balanced analysis, remaining as objective as we can....

The recent announcement by the officials mediating the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, - that their planned summit meeting originally announced for Geneva is now postponed, - affirms recent reports that domestic opposition to the mediation initiative remains firmly entrenched in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the international security body mediating the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, explained that after a regional tour earlier in May they found that ’the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan are not yet prepared to accept the proposed solutions to the problem....

An important, yet subtle development in U.S. foreign policy in the Caucasus was virtually obscured by the flurry of announcements and press briefings of April’s Key West mediation effort attempting to secure a negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The Key West meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations represents the first real effort at U.S. Transcaucasus summitry in the post-Clinton period of foreign relations. Demonstrating the maxim of the random nature of foreign policy challenges, the Key West talks were overshadowed by the confrontation between the U....

Overview The recent announcement by the Georgian government to establish a development plan for Javakhk, if seriously and sincerely implemented, may be an important first step to prevent regional destabilization. Nevertheless, the risks of a conflict resulting both from internal oppression and external instigation would be minimized and in fact contained only if Javakhk is granted autonomy based on the right of self-determination of its local population. By looking at the precedent of Ajaria, the argument that Javakhk’s autonomy would threaten Georgia’s sovereignty is found to be weak....