During the last years, we have witnessed numerous crises in the South Caucasus, marking a changing security situation in the region. Azerbaijan’s military reconquest of territories in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 and the Russian-mediated ceasefire shifted the balance of power, as Turkey and Russia reached mutual agreement that increased their influence in both states. Meanwhile, the West did not show leadership in resolving the war or mitigating its course, further reducing the influence of the European Union in the region. The 2022 Russian invasion in Ukraine represents a further erosion of stability and security and a massive attack on international law in the region.
Considering these challenges, the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) will train young researchers to assess the changing geopolitical and security environment in the South Caucasus, including the role of regional actors, such as Turkey, Russia, and Iran. Recruiting research fellows from each South Caucasus country, the project aims at empowering younger researchers to work on geopolitical shifts in the region and its consequences for the SC states and the EU. The GIP and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will intensively supervise the researchers, organizing a series of online workshops and a summer academy. The project goal is to encourage a debate on the political future of the South Caucasus, to discuss the research results with Georgian policy makers and to promote evidence-based politics.
