Regionalism in the South Caucasus Historical dynamics and challenges

Abstract

The issue of regionalism in the South Caucasus remains one of the most pressing, yet understudied, issues in the post Soviet space. Since Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia gained independence thirty years ago, regional integration efforts have not yielded any effective results. Constant conflict, geopolitical competition, and divergent national priorities have led to fragmentation rather than unification. The region’s geopolitical location connecting Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as its energy potential and transportation capabilities, make regional cooperation even more important in the post 2020 period. Although this issue has been addressed in various policy reports and national level studies, there is still a dearth of serious comparative studies that address the domestic and external obstacles to regionalism in the three South Caucasus countries. This study aims to fill the gaps in the existing scientific literature by examining the historical evolution and obstacles to regional integration in this region.