Caucasus and Central Asia

The conflict context: The Caucasus

The Caucasus is a region situated between the Black and Caspian Seas, beginning in the Russian Federation in the North and bordering Turkey and Iran in the South. It is divided by the Caucasus Range into North and South, which have related but distinctly different cultural and political characteristics. North Caucasus is made up of seven federal republics within the Russian Federation and each of these republics is populated by several different Caucasian ethnicities. The South Caucasus is comprised of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as three disputed territories which have declared themselves as independent states but which are not internationally recognised: Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.
Four large-scale violent conflicts occurred in the Caucasus during and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, resulting in a situation of neither peace nor war, leaving populations throughout the region with an uncertain future and undermining political reform and economic development. The Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts and the conflict between Armenians-Azerbaijanis over Nagorny-Karabakh in the South Caucasus remain at a deadlock, whilst over a million refugees and displaced persons have lived in temporary conditions for over 10 years as homes and infrastructure remain in ruins. In the North Caucasus, the conflict over Chechnya means continued violence and remains a cause of instability throughout the region. A lack of security and poor economic development compound pre-existing ethnic tensions and have the potential for increased conflict.
War, political boundaries and lines of separation drawn in the 1990s divide the Caucasus into isolated entities, even though the peoples of the region share an overarching cultural identity of being ‘Caucasian’. The future of the Caucasus lies in its development as a region.

International Alert in the Caucasus and Central Asia

We have been working in the Caucasus since 1993 and to a lesser extent in Central Asia since 1998. Our work focuses on supporting civil society, individual peace constituencies and business communities to participate in solving problems of peace and conflict in the region. This includes:
Grassroots public awareness-raising about conflict, promoting tolerance and building skills to participate in solving problems, e.g. negotiation, mediation, dialogue and non-confrontational advocacy with civil society organisations, professional groups and community leaders
Building trust and re-establishing relationships between communities or groups who have been in conflict by bringing them together and promoting dialogue on areas of common interest
Supporting research, analysis and advocacy on conflict related issues (especially the links between economy and conflict) by local actors and helping them to get their messages heard by international policy makers
Encouraging diplomacy by civil society and local authorities so that they can make a difference to some of the frozen conflicts or stalemates within the region.

For more information contact Cinta Depondt


Contact Person
Email: Cinta Depondt

More on our work in the Caucasus and Central Asia
The Caucasus
Caucasus regional work
Confidence-building between Georgian and Abkhaz civil society
Consortium Initiative for the Nagorny-Karabakh Conflict Resolution Process
Central Asia