GEORGIA AND THE CAUCASUS SEARCH FOR THE PRINCIPLES FOR THE REGIONAL SECURITY CONCEPT
Irakli Mchedlishvili

The question of foreign orientation has always been a subject of acute discussions in Georgia. Being a part of the national self-identification problem, it concerns almost all strata of the Georgian community. What country is to be a guarantor of Georgia's security-Russia or the West? Does the way to the West lays on Turkey? Is the Caucasian co-operation capable to guarantee the national security? These are the questions the Georgians and their foreign partners are concerned for. 

Russia, Turkey and Iran have always been interested in the Caucasus and affected its stability. In its turn, each Caucasian nation used to apply to any of these countries in search of security and an ally. For instance, Azerbaijan preferred Turkey; Armenia chose Iran and Russia, the North Caucasus - Turkey and Iran, whereas Georgia applied to Russia. It was a historically developed security system of the Caucasus, though with some faults: tensions between the big regional countries sparked discords between their Caucasian allies, and vice versa, disagreements between the Caucasian countries provoked tensions between the regional countries. After the break up of the Soviet Union, the Caucasians reverted to their traditional allies. This is proved by pro-Turkey period in Azerbaijan, the Armenia-Russia military co-operation, developing connections between the North Caucasian nations and South Islamic countries, and Georgia's reverse to Russia after the collapse in Abkhazia. 

The concept of unity of the Caucasian nations has always been existed as an alternative to the above-depicted security system, however, it has never been brought into being. Nowadays, Caucasian co-operation in search of regional and national security is uppermost again, though some principles of such co-operation have to be specified. For instance, the fact that at the present time the North Caucasus straightly affects Georgia's stability makes Georgia conduct a direct dialogue with the North Caucasians. From the other hand, the North Caucasus is a part of the Russian Federation - that makes it complicated problem to deal with. Or let us take the issue of simultaneous development of relations of the Caucasian countries with the West and any of the regional countries (Russia, for instance), that many foreign and local experts regard as contradictory. 

The present article analyses formation of political orientations in the Caucasus, features attempts to shape the Caucasian regional and national security systems, stresses the great importance of co-operation between the Caucasian nations and the role of Russia, Turkey and Iran in the regional security system, and suggests principles of relations between the Caucasus and non-regional (the western) countries.

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