It is argued that the main approach of external actors’ involvement in the process of regional conflict resolution in the South Caucasus is defined in accordance to their own interests. These interests are predetermined by several factors and may be associated with issues on energy and communications (USA); security and geopolitical domain (USA, Russia), interests of integration, development of stability and strengthening of security in the region (EU), historical and cultural proximity to different states of the South Caucasus (Russia, Turkey, Iran). In difference to other external actors (USA, Russia), the EU has a particular position and does not develop dynamic role in the regulation of ethno-political conflicts in the South Caucasus. Instead, the EU’s role is to support the perspectives of transformation and to help create conditions that facilitate the political settlement of the conflict. The EUs involvement degree in the conflict regulation process depends on various factors, such as the energy dependence of the EU from Russia, the legitimacy of the presence of Moscow in the post-Soviet space, the US active presence and complexity of ethno-political regional crises.
Keywords: Ethno-political Conflicts, South Caucasus, European Neighbourhood Policy, Bkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh
Tsovik Khachatryan (tsovinarkhachatryan@gmail.com)
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa