Politics and Society in the South Caucasus

2025/2026

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

3

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент политологии и международных отношений

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Юзбекова Карина Шамильевна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course will focus on the recent history and politics of the South Caucasus. The region is also known through Russian sources as Transcaucasia and includes three UN member states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) as well as three unrecognized or partially recognized states (Abkhazia, Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), and South OssetiaThrough a series of lectures and seminars, the course delves into the political and societal dynamics of the South Caucasus, offering students a nuanced understanding of transformations in the region. Key themes include conceptualizations of the region, state building, Russian/Soviet legacies, ethnicity, nationhood, (ethnic) conflict, gender, family, religion, and governance. Additionally, it delves into democracy promotion, regional integration projects, and factors influencing integration formats. The course fosters knowledge acquisition on the nature of state, politics, and society in the South Caucasus, encouraging critical thinking on the drivers of political, economic, social, and cultural changes. As we journey through the recent history and politics of the region, we will consider its location with Russia, Turkey, and Iran. The course covers the impact of Ottoman (Turkish), Russian (including Soviet), and Iranian empires on the region. We will then zoom into the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring what happened after these empires, looking at state formation, conflicts, and how they influenced local elites, popular movements, and various aspects like religion, culture, and economics.

Learning Objectives

• • To provide students with understanding of key issues in political and societal transformations in South Caucasus countries
• • To help students develop critical thinking on the politics and society in South Caucasus, and acquire knowledge of driving forces and political, economic, social and cultural factors in present and future development of the region

Expected Learning Outcomes

• develops knowledge of ethnic conflicts and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus
• has an overview of historic and political background of all the three countries
• is able to critically analyse current political and societal situation in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
• understands the role of different global actors in the region
• understands the role of tradition and informality institutions, culture, religion in South Caucasian countries

Course Contents

• Russian Empire and Soviet Period
• Newly independent States and National Identity
• Ethnic Conflicts
• The Role of Religion, Tradition and Informality
• Migration and Integration projects in the region

Assessment Elements

• In-class participation
  Assessment will be based on attendance, preparation of readings, participation in class discussion with the focus on qualitative contribution to the discussion, ability to answer questions based on the readings, come up with own interpretations and react to comments made by other students
• Homework paper
  The homework assignment is a short (800-1000 words) written report. It should focus on a recent political, economic, or social process or event in one or more states of the South Caucasus. Examples of such processes or events include elections, ethnic conflicts, escalations of tensions between states or, conversely, the signing of agreements, political/economic/social crises, image strategies of political leaders, etc. The report must briefly describe the context of the event or process itself, reactions to it from various involved groups or the international community, and provide a brief analysis of its potential causes. In-text citations are required within the report. A full list of sources must be provided at the end. Students may choose any citation style (e.g., Chicago, GOST, APA).
• Test
  The test will take place at the last seminar and will cover the material of the whole course (lectures, seminar readings). Students will have 30 minutes to complete the test. The test may feature different types of questions (multiple-choice, matching, fill-in-the-gaps questions).
• Essay
  The final paper (essay) should relate to any aspect of the course. It can be a critical review of the existing literature on a specific topic, or an original piece of research (topic need to be approved by the instructor before the session). THe word limit - 1000-1500 words. In-text citations are required within the essay. A full list of sources must be provided at the end. Students may choose any citation style (e.g., Chicago, GOST, APA).

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  0.25 * Essay + 0.25 * Homework paper + 0.25 * In-class participation + 0.25 * Test

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Charles King. (2008). The Ghost of Freedom : A History of the Caucasus. Oxford University Press.
• De Waal, T. (2012). A Broken Region: The Persistent Failure of Integration Projects in the South Caucasus. Europe-Asia Studies, 64(9), 1709–1723. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2012.718416
• Dermendzhieva, Z. (2011). Emigration from the South Caucasus: who goes abroad and what are the economic implications? Post-Communist Economies, 23(3), 377–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2011.595135
• ERGUN, A. (2010). Post-Soviet Political Transformation in Azerbaijan: Political Elite, Civil Society and The Trials of Democratization. International Relations / Uluslararasi Iliskiler, 7(26), 67–85.
• Gugushvili, A., Kabachnik, P., & Kirvalidze, A. (2017). Collective memory and reputational politics of national heroes and villains. Nationalities Papers, 45(3), 464–484. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2016.1261821
• Hille, C. M. L. (2010). State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus. Brill.
• Looking toward Ararat: Armenia in modern history, Suny, R.G., 1993
• Lynch, D. (DE-588)124718094, (DE-627)364568054, (DE-576)181876604, aut. (2004). Engaging Eurasia’s separatist states unresolved conflicts and de facto states Dov Lynch.
• Markedonov, S. M., & Suchkov, M. A. (2020). Russia and the United States in the Caucasus: cooperation and competition. Caucasus Survey, 8(2), 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761199.2020.1732101
• Metreveli, T. (2016). An undisclosed story of roses: church, state, and nation in contemporary Georgia. Nationalities Papers, 44(5), 694–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2016.1200021
• Mkhoyan, A. (2017). South Caucasus from 1918 to 1921: history and historical parallels with the contemporary era. Nationalities Papers, 45(5), 910–927. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1297782
• Ohannes Geukjian. (2011). Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus : Nagorno-Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy. Routledge.
• Polese, A., & Rekhviashvili, L. (2017). Introduction: Informality and power in the South Caucasus. Caucasus Survey ; Volume 5, Issue 1, Page 1-10 ; ISSN 2376-1199 2376-1202. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761199.2017.1295671
• Roberts, K., Pollock, G., Rustamova, S., Mammadova, Z., & Tholend, J. (2009). Young adults’ family and housing life-stage transitions during post-communist transition in the South Caucasus. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(2), 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260802600854
• SLEZKINE, Y. (1994). The USSR as a communal apartment, or how a socialist state promoted ethnic particularism. Slavic Review, (2), 414. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsfra&AN=edsfra.3717682
• Sushentsov, A., & Neklyudov, N. (2020). The Caucasus in Russian foreign policy strategy. Caucasus Survey, 8(2), 127–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761199.2020.1759888

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Aliyev, H. (2014). Civil society in the South Caucasus: kinship networks as obstacles to civil participation. Journal of Southeast European & Black Sea Studies, 14(2), 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2014.904545
• Bedford, S., & Souleimanov, E. A. (2016). Under construction and highly contested: Islam in the post-Soviet Caucasus. Third World Quarterly, 37(9), 1559–1580. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2016.1166047
• Kereselidze, N. V. aut. (2015). The engagement policies of the European Union, Georgia and Russia towards Abkhazia Nino Kereselidze.
• Markedonov, S. M. . V. (DE-588)138518424, (DE-627)667004513, (DE-576)348920806, aut. (2015). De facto statehood in Eurasia a political and security phenomenon Sergey Markedonov.
• Mkhoyan, A. (2017). Soft power, Russia and the former Soviet states: a case study of Russian language and education in Armenia. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 23(6), 690–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2016.1251426
• Nodia, G. (2009). The Wounds of Lost Empire. Journal of Democracy, 20(2), 34–38. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.0.0084
• Paul, A. (DE-588)1163541486, (DE-576)508037840. (2015). The Eastern Partnership, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the impact on the South Caucasus [Elektronische Ressource] / by Amanda Paul. Istituto Affari Internazionali.
• Souleimanov, E. A., Abrahamyan, E., & Aliyev, H. (2018). Unrecognized states as a means of coercive diplomacy? Assessing the role of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Russia’s foreign policy in the South Caucasus. Journal of Southeast European & Black Sea Studies, 18(1), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2017.1390830
• Tokluoglu, C. (2005). Definitions of national identity, nationalism and ethnicity in post-Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1990s. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 28(4), 722–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870500092951

Authors

• IUZBEKOVA KARINA SHAMILEVNA