Russia needs to study the South Caucasus better

The Moscow State University of M.V. Lomonosov is hosting an international scientific conference entitled “The South Caucasus: new geopolitical realities. Economic, security, the humanitarian field”. Alexey Vlasov, Executive Director of the North-South Center for Political Analysis and Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted the importance of 2013. He said that the year was filled with political matters.

Azerbaijan and Georgia will hold presidential polls in autumn 2013. Armenia held presidential elections in mid-February, with Serzh Sargsyan winning.
Russia is developing the Eurasian project, while the EU develops the Eastern Partnership. Vlasov says that the Europeans were competing with the Russian project.
Alla Yazykova, a professor and Doctor of History, head of the Center of the Mediterranean and Black Seas of the Institute of Europe of the RAS, said that the South Caucasus cannot accept Russia’s conditions for rapprochement. The US are trying to contain Russian interests in the region. Conflicts and transnational crime are a threat.

Yazykov believes that the policy is more pragmatic. The Eastern Partnership is a new challenge for Russia. Russia should focus on relations with Brussels, rather than the US.
Alexander Dzasokhov, ex-President of North Ossetia, a member of the Guardian Council of the Russian Council for International Affairs, pointed out the need for dialogue of all states. He reminded about the stability pact proposed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Lisbon in 1999. Turkey and Iran proposed similar initiatives in the early 2000s. He proposed the foundation of a trade and industry chamber of the Caucasus.
Alexander Skakov, a coordinator of the working group for the North Caucasus of the Center for Studies of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS, believes that Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia will continue slow-paced talks followed by expansion of humanitarian cooperation. The new government in Georgia had brought in new developments. Cooperation with the US allows Georgia to turn it into a matter of trade with Russia. He pointed out the need to reconstruct roads in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Skakov mentioned problems in Russia, where some politicians were opposed to any relations with Georgia until it recognizes the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Such an approach is counter-productive, he insists. Relations with Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream must continue.
Alexander Iskandaryan, director of the Yerevan Institute of the Caucasus, said that Russia does not pay enough attention to the South Caucasus. Europe and America have a lot more discussions about the region. Armenia has only two neighbours – Iran and Georgia. Armenia wants to cooperate with both western states and Russia.
Iskandaryan commented on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stating that the OSCE Minsk Group faces unjustified criticism.
Orkhan Sattarov, head of the European Bureau of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted the importance of Azerbaijan to Russia if the situation around Iran worsens.
Seymour Aliyev, head of the Russian section of Trend, noted the economic success of Azerbaijan. The country’s GDP increased multifold, the economy is diversifying. The non-petroleum sector increased by 10% last year. Azerbaijan launched its first satellite this year.
The international conference was organized with the support of the North-South Center for Political Analysis and the Vestnik Kavkaza Agency for Information and Analysis.