SCIENCE: Vol. 4 (1) - Winter 2010 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) (cria-online.org)

Vol. 4 (1) - Winter 2010 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is now available on-line at http://www.cria-online.org

The Table of Contents of the Issue is attached below.

Deadlines for submissions for CRIA’s Spring 2010 issue and Summer 2010 issue are March 15, 2010 and June 15, 2010, respectively. CRIA accepts articles from authors as original contributions. Submission guidelines can be viewed at http://www.cria-online.org/Submit_a_Paper.html .

Yours Faithfully,

Nasimi Aghayev

Editor-in-Chief
Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Email: contact@cria-online.org
Web: www.cria-online.org
ISSN: 1865-6773


VOL. 4 (1) - WINTER 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Note from the Editor-in-Chief (pp. 1-2)
Nasimi Aghayev (http://cria-online.org/10_1.html)

RESEARCH PAPERS

-Russia’s Pragmatic Reimperialization (pp. 3-19)
by Janusz Bugajski (http://cria-online.org/10_2.html)

-Puzzles of State Transformation: The Case of Armenia and Georgia (pp. 20-34)
by Nicole Gallina (http://cria-online.org/10_3.html)

-Russia’s National Security Strategy to 2020: A Great Power in the Making? (pp. 35-42)
by Sophia Dimitrakopoulou & Andrew Liaropoulos (http://cria-online.org/10_4.html)

-International Language Rights Norms in the Dispute over Latinization Reform in the Republic
of Tatarstan (pp. 43-56)
by Dilyara Suleymanova (http://cria-online.org/10_5.html)

-European Foreign Policy after Lisbon: Strengthening the EU as an International Actor (pp. 57-72)
by Kateryna Koehler (http://cria-online.org/10_6.html)

COMMENTARIES

-The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Twenty Years of Reform (pp. 73-81)
by Aleksandr Shkolnikov & Anna Nadgrodkiewicz (http://cria-online.org/10_7.html)

-Kazan: The Religiously Undivided Frontier City (pp. 82-86)
by Matthew Derrick (http://cria-online.org/10_8.html)

INTERVIEW

“The Current Trend of the Kremlin is to Rather Formally Distance itself from the North
Caucasus” (pp. 87-90), Interview with Dr. Emil Souleimanov, Charles University,
Prague, Czechia (http://cria-online.org/10_9.html)

BOOK REVIEWS

-“The Guns of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia”, edited by Svante E. Cornell and
Frederick Starr (pp. 91-96)
Review by Till Bruckner (http://cria-online.org/10_10.html)

-“The Caucasus: An Introduction” by Frederik Coene (pp. 97-98)
Review by Alexander Jackson (http://cria-online.org/10_11.html)

-“When Empire Meets Nationalism. Power Politics in the US and Russia” by Didier Chaudet,
Florent Parmentier & Benoît Pelopidas (pp. 99-100)
Review by Samuel Lussac (http://cria-online.org/10_12.html)


CRIA is a Germany-based quarterly peer-reviewed online academic journal. The Review is committed to promote a better understanding of the regional affairs by providing relevant background information and analysis, as far as the Caucasus in general, and the South Caucasus in particular are concerned. CRIA also welcomes lucid, well-documented papers on other countries and regions including especially Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, as well as on all aspects of international affairs, from all political viewpoints. CRIA is indexed/abstracted in Columbia International Affairs Online, ProQuest Research Library, EBSCOhost Political Science Complete, Directory of Open Access Journals, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, etc.

CALL FOR PAPERS: FOR THE WINTER 2010 AND SPRING 2010 ISSUES OF THE CAUCASIAN REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (cria-online.org)

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE WINTER 2010 AND SPRING 2010 ISSUES OF THE CAUCASIAN REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

The Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is pleased to invite submissions for its Winter 2010 issue (Vol. 4, No. 1) and Spring 2010 issue (Vol. 4, No. 2) to be published respectively in the beginning of February 2010 and May 2010. Deadlines for submissions are December 15, 2009 for the Winter 2010 issue, and March 15, 2010 for the Spring 2010 issue. Submission guidelines can be viewed at http://cria-online.org/Submit_a_Paper.html .

CRIA is particularly interested in papers on the following topics:

Regional topics:

- Western energy interests in the South Caucasus and Central Asia;
- Prospects of the Nabucco gas pipeline;
- Prospects of the White Stream gas pipeline;
- European Union and the South Caucasus;
- European Union and the conflict resolution in the South Caucasus;
- Prospects of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;
- Turkish-Armenian rapprochement;
- Relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey;
- Separatist conflicts in Georgia;
- Georgia and its NATO-membership aspirations;
- Russian policy towards the South Caucasus;
- US policy towards the South Caucasus;
- Prospects of the South Caucasian regional security;
- Regional integration in the South Caucasus;
- Situation in the North Caucasus;
- Ethno-nationalism and violence in the North-Western Caucasus;
- Different faces of Sufi Islam in the present-day North Caucasus;
- Israel in the Caucasus;
- Azerbaijan’s foreign policy;
- Azerbaijan's relations with the Moslem world;
- Islam in Azerbaijan; Islam in the Caucasus;
- Foreign policy of Armenia;
- Iran-Armenia relations;
- Azerbaijani community of Iran;
- Legal status of the Caspian Sea;
- Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan legal dispute over the oil fields in the Caspian Sea;
- Turkey’s new foreign policy;
- Turkey 's accession to the EU;
- Iran-Turkey relations;
- Iran’s nuclear program;
- New Islamic directions in Central Asia: internal and external dimensions;
- Global and regional powers in Central Asia;
- Energy security in Central Asia;
- Ukraine 's foreign policy;
- Moldova’s foreign policy;
- Armenian Diaspora and lobby in the US.

International relations and general topics:

- Theory of International Relations;
- Problems of the Modern International Law;
- US foreign policy;
- Russia’s foreign policy;
- China’s foreign policy;
- EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and the foreign policies of the member-states;

This is a preliminary list. Please feel free to offer alternative topics, including book reviews, to the Editor.

All correspondence and submissions should be e-mailed to:

contact@cria-online.org

CRIA is a Germany-based quarterly peer-reviewed online academic journal published in English. The Review is committed to promote a better understanding of the regional affairs by providing relevant background information and analysis, as far as the Caucasus in general, and the South Caucasus in particular are concerned. CRIA also welcomes lucid, well-documented papers on other countries and regions including especially Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, as well as on all aspects of international affairs, from all political viewpoints. CRIA is indexed/abstracted in Columbia International Affairs Online, Directory of Open Access Journals, ProQuest Research Library, EBSCOhost Research Database, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, etc. The last issue of the Review can be viewed at http://www.cria-online.org .

Best regards,

Nasimi Aghayev

Editor-in-Chief
Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Eppsteiner Str. 2, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel: +49 69 138 76 684
E-mail: contact@cria-online.org
Web: http://www.cria-online.org
ISSN: 1865-6773

SCIENCE: Vol. 3 (4) - Autumn 2009 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) (cria-online.org)

Vol. 3 (4) - Autumn 2009 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is now available on-line at www.cria-online.org

The Table of Contents of the Issue is attached below.

Deadlines for submissions for CRIA’s Winter 2010 issue and Spring 2010 issue are December 15, 2009 and March 15, 2010, respectively.
Submission guidelines can be viewed at http://www.cria-online.org/Submit_a_Paper.html .

Yours Faithfully,

Nasimi Aghayev

Editor-in-Chief
Caucasian Review of International Affairs
www.cria-online.org
ISSN: 1865-6773


VOL. 3 (4) - AUTUMN 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Note from the Editor-in-Chief (331-332)
Nasimi Aghayev

RESEARCH PAPERS

-Alternative Dispute Resolution in the North Caucasus (pp. 333-341)
by Renée Gendron

-The Implications of the 1993 U.N. Security Council Action for the Settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict (pp. 342-370)
by Rovshan Sadigbayli

-Political Economy of Old-Age Pension Reforms in Georgia (pp. 371-386)
by Alexi Gugushvili

-Corruption in Russia: A Model Exploring its Economic Costs (pp. 387-403)
by Michael P. Barry

-Experiments in Soft Balancing: China- led Multilateralism in Africa
and the Arab World (pp. 404-434)
by Nicola P. Contessi

COMMENT

-Between NATO & Russia: Ukraine’s Foreign Policy Crossroads Revisited (pp. 435-444)
by Mykola Kapitonenko

BOOK REVIEW

-“An Endless War: The Russian-Chechen Conflict in Perspective”
by Emil Souleimanov (pp. 445-446)
Review by Martin Malek

INTERVIEW

-“Armenia & Georgia:
Corruption, the State, and Change” (pp. 447-451)
Interview with Dr. Christoph H. Stefes, University of Colorado Denver, US

-“If Turkish-Armenian Border Reopens,
Georgia Will Become Less Important” (pp. 452-455)
Interview with Dr. Hans Gutbrod and Koba Turmanidze, Caucasus Research Resource Centers, Tbilisi, Georgia


CRIA is a Germany-based quarterly peer-reviewed online academic journal. The Review is committed to promote a better understanding of the regional affairs by providing relevant background information and analysis, as far as the Caucasus in general, and the South Caucasus in particular are concerned. CRIA also welcomes lucid, well-documented papers on other countries and regions including especially Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, as well as on all aspects of international affairs, from all political viewpoints. CRIA is indexed/abstracted in Columbia International Affairs Online, Directory of Open Access Journals, ProQuest Research Library, EBSCOhost Research Database, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, etc.

REVIEW: IS TURKEY TURNING EAST? By Nasimi Aghayev (cria-online.org)

Caucasus Update No. 53 - Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA)

For some time, there have been fears that Turkey has begun moving away from its traditional Euro-Atlantic orientation, towards the Middle East and the Muslim world. Turkey’s condemnation of Israel’s attack on Gaza in January was followed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s walk-out during a debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum.

In early October, Turkey vetoed Israel’s participation in a joint air-force exercise, again citing its conduct in Gaza. In the same week Turkish TV aired a show portraying Israeli soldiers as child- killers, provoking fury in Tel Aviv.

On a recent visit to Iran, the Turkish premier signed a gas deal and several economic cooperation agreements (Press TV, October 28). Before the visit, Mr Erdogan defended Iran’s right to nuclear energy and accused those countries which oppose Tehran’s atomic program of hypocrisy (Guardian, October 26). Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was understandably delighted, and pundits in the West were understandably shaken.

The New York Times argued that lack of progress on EU membership was driving Turkey away (NY Times, October 27). The Christian Science Monitor called it ‘worrisome’ (Christian Science Monitor, October 29). Overall, the assumption seems to be that Turkey’s growing clout, and disillusionment with its EU membership talks, is leading it towards a closer relationship with autocratic Middle Eastern states like Iran and Syria.

So are Europe and America ‘losing’ Turkey? Probably not. The evidence in support of this theory is disjointed and selective, and ignores other key facts. On Israel, for instance, this argument assumes that Turkey’s fury over Gaza is in some way manufactured, that it is designed entirely to win support on the ‘Arab street’ (and indeed the Persian street).

Although Turkey’s leaders are not blind to the credit that this will earn them in the Muslim world (also, within Turkey itself), there is little doubt that their anger is genuine. Turkey has been attempting to encourage progress on the Arab-Israeli peace process for years, and saw its fragile gains destroyed during Operation Cast Lead. Rightly or wrongly, Ankara sees Israel as mainly responsible. As for the TV program, it would be absurd to assume that the Turkish government was responsible for the content and the timing.

It is also odd to link Turkish anger at Israel with turning away from the EU. For all its links with Brussels and Washington, the Jewish state is not an integral part of ‘the West’, geographically or politically. Ankara is quite capable of opposing Israel’s actions without abandoning its EU membership application. And although the reputation of that process is heavily tarnished, and there is significant frustration amongst ordinary Turks over European hostility to Turkish membership, EU integration remains a priority of the AKP Government.

Senior Turkish officials have made this plain in recent days. They also poured cold water on the whole idea that Turkey is turning East – “Is it so easy to change direction?” asked President Abdullah Gul rhetorically (Today’s Zaman, October 30).

This statement hints at the heart of the matter. Complex states do not have a single geopolitical ‘direction’. President Gul visited Serbia on October 26th, but this hardly means that Ankara is seeking to re-establish Ottoman influence in the Balkans, as some seem to believe it is doing in the Middle East. To take another parallel, no-one would seriously believe that increased US diplomacy towards China would be a sign of abandoning NATO and Europe.

Ankara’s foreign policy, now more than ever, is famously focused on ‘zero problems with neighbours’ (RFE/RL, October 30). Given Turkey’s unique position at the confluence of so many different regions, this policy is bound to involve dealing with states whom the West distrusts – Iran, Russia, and Syria, for instance.

Expecting Turkey to suspend cooperation with Tehran is an easy judgement to make in Washington or Brussels, but not so in Ankara. An otherwise hostile Wall Street Journal acknowledged this on October 30, recognising that “nations do not have the luxury of picking their neighbours” (Wall Street Journal, October 30). Turkey needs Iran to cooperate: on energy, trade, and on containing Kurdish militants.

In any case, Turkey has absolutely no interest in a nuclear Iran. What most commentaries fearing a Turkish-Iranian alliance ignore is that, just a few weeks ago, Ankara ordered advanced Patriot missile batteries from the US (Eurasia Daily Monitor, September 16). It was keen to insist that this was not due to any threat, but the move is obviously in response to Iran’s strategic missile programme. Mr Erdogan’s praise of President Ahmadinejad was, given this context, simple diplomacy, made before a visit in which he hoped to secure extensive trade and energy deals. It would have been surprising, and contrary to Turkey’s foreign policy, to have prepared for his visit by thundering against the country’s nuclear program.

The ‘losing Turkey’ argument – which assumes that, given the AK Party’s Islamist past, Turkey is also becoming more Islamic in nature - also ignores moves such as the thaw with Christian Armenia. This was also undertaken in the framework of the same “zero problems” concept.

Assuming that Turkey is somehow moving away from the West, towards the Middle East, or towards some kind of pact with Iran, is a narrow view. It ignores historic rivalry between them, fails to recognise Turkish fears of an Iranian nuclear weapon (whatever Mr Erdogan might say in public), and conflates Israel with the EU or NATO. Most importantly, it underestimates Ankara’s foreign policy. Turkey is smart enough to be able to look East and West at the same time.

source: cria-online.org

SCIENCE: PUBL.-Caucasian Review of International Affairs, Spring 09 issue (cria-online.org)

Vol. 3 (2) - Spring 2009 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA)
is now available on-line at www.cria-online.org. The Table of Contents of the Issue is attached below.

Deadline for submission of papers for the next issue (Summer 2009) is June 30, 2009. Manuscript guidelines can be found at here >>>

Yours Faithfully,
Nasimi Aghayev
Editor-in-ChiefCaucasian Review of International Affairs
www.cria-online.org
ISSN: 1865-6773


TABLE OF CONTENTS, CRIA, Vol. 3 (2), SPRING 09

- Note from the Editor-In-Chief (p. 120)
Nasimi Aghayev (http://www.cria-online.org/7_1.html)

Research Papers

- Implications of Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia for International Law: The Conduct of the Community of States in Current Secession Conflicts (pp. 121-142)
by Heiko Krueger (http://www.cria-online.org/7_2.html)

- The European Union’s Eastern Partnership: Chances and Perspectives (pp. 143-155)
by Marcin Łapczyński (http://www.cria-online.org/7_3.html)

- Democratic Transition in Georgia: Post-Rose Revolution Internal Pressures on Leadership (pp. 156-171)
by Jesse David Tatum (http://www.cria-online.org/7_4.html)

- Decision-Making and Georgia’s Perpetual Revolution: The Case of IDP Housing (pp. 172-180)
by Till Bruckner (http://www.cria-online.org/7_5.html)

- Victimisation of Female Suicide Bombers: The Case of Chechnya (pp. 181-188)
by Nino Kemoklidze (http://www.cria-online.org/7_6.html)

- Dutch Disease in Uzbekistan? (pp. 189-209)
by Michael P. Barry (http://www.cria-online.org/7_7.html)

- How the West Was Won: China’s Expansion into Central Asia (pp. 210-218)
by Henryk Szadziewski (http://www.cria-online.org/7_8.html)

Comments

- Split in the Russian Political Tandem Putin-Medvedev? (pp. 219-226)
by Eberhard Schneider (http://www.cria-online.org/7_9.html)

- Georgia and Russia: The “Unknown” Prelude to the “Five Day War” (pp. 227-232)
by Martin Malek (http://www.cria-online.org/7_10.html)

Book Review

- “Handbook of International Humanitarian Law” by Dieter Fleck (pp. 233-236)
Review
by Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont (http://www.cria-online.org/7_11.html)

Interview

- “Federalization Remains the Best Way for Georgia to Avoid Outbreaks of Further Internal Disputes” (pp. 237-241)
Interview with Prof. George Hewitt, London School of Oriental & African Studies, UK (http://www.cria-online.org/7_12.html)

CRIA is a Germany-registered quarterly peer-reviewed free, non-profit and online academic journal. The Review is committed to promote a better understanding of the regional affairs by providing relevant background information and analysis, as far as the Caucasus in general, and the South Caucasus in particular are concerned. CRIA also welcomes lucid, well-documented papers on other countries and regions including especially Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe as well as on all aspects of international affairs, from all political viewpoints. CRIA is indexed/abstracted in Directory of Open Access Journals, ProQuest Research Library, EBCOhost Research Database, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, etc.

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