Embedded not Icebound
Conflicts and Regimes in the Caucasus: A Review of the Literature
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In recent years, a number of new analyses of the conflicts in the Caucasus have appeared. Only the best studies manage to name the violent ethno-nationalist actors precisely, to reveal the tensions between official interpretations of history and concrete experience, and to show how Soviet models of depicting perceived enemies persist to this day. Federalism is hardly discussed as an option for conflict resolution. Desideratum in the research are comparative analyses of the (semi-)authoritarian regimes in the Caucasus and their reproduction mechanisms as well as the micro-dynamics of conflicts and internal social configurations. The field is also still awaiting comparative policy research that looks at the political economy and functioning of the paragovernment structures in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.
(Osteuropa 7-10/2015, pp. 161–179)