‍Central Asia and The Caucasus Journal

Abstract The European Union’s joint security and foreign policy towards Russia has gone through numerous unwanted ups and downs after the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially over the last two decades, due to various reasons although during the post-collapse conditions hopes for integration of Russia with Europe had been strengthened. Some causal premises are more important in this regard such as complexity of relations from a historical standpoint, the impact of contradictory norm-value sources on the EU’s decision-making  towards Russia, lack of sanctions  of the enactments of the EU in the security and foreign policy area, priority of a national policy  and lack of consistency among the members in implementing the decisions, conflicting multifaceted political, military and security conditions and in the end, mutual dependence, especially in the energy sector. Considering the above-mentioned concepts, the question of this paper is that “why the European Union’s joint security and foreign policy towards Russia has had serious changes and vacillations  after 2000?” the primary response is that the European Union’s joint security and foreign policy has been, on one hand, under pressure from geo-political considerations and energy security for cooperation with Russia, on the other hand, has been under the impact of practical inconsistency in this sector among the EU members and necessity of adopting  a confrontational policy against the Russian dominance to remove the regional worries, and this has made the European Union’s joint security and foreign policy towards Russia vacillate. The method used in this paper is of Analytical-Qualitative type.

Abstract Since the beginning of the third millennium, the European Union's policy toward the Central Asia has been a major part of the EU's common foreign and security policy. Central Asia has traditionally provided a link between Asia and Europe and plays as a strategic route between the two continents. The most comprehensive European document on Central Asia entitled "EU-Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership" was adopted in June 2007 and boosted the EU-Central Asia relations. The Main question of this article is "in order to implement its normative power, which instruments are used by the EU and which challenges it confronts?" In response to this question, the following hypothesis is posed: "Promoting democracy, human rights, rule of law, education, and environment are among the most important programs implemented by the EU in Central Asia; however, due to some shortcomings such as the role of other powerful actors in the region, different approaches of the member states and the European institutions as well as structural weaknesses, the EU has failed to achieve all its goals in the region. The research method applied in this article is analytic-descriptive.

Abstract With the end of the Cold War a new structure emerged in the international system, which was complex, but manageable. Russia, the US, and the EU cooperated together to solve their common problems. Meanwhile, some events such as NATO invasion of Kosovo (1999) and Russia- Georgia war (2008) brought about some challenges among these actors. Despite these problems, the cooperation among these old rivals had created a situation in which all parties respected the Helsinki Final Act. The Ukraine crisis damaged these relatively good relations between Russia and the West, which started with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This crisis was an end to a period of cooperation between them in which the Western countries failed to integrate Russia in its desired structures. The new crisis in addition to the creation of intense political tensions has influenced other areas of cooperation especially the trade and economic relations. The West-Russia economic war over Ukraine has emerged in the format of reciprocal sanctions. In fact, the main question of this article is that “which factors have resulted in the emergence of the crisis between Russia and the EU and what are the dimensions and consequences of the EU’s sanctions against Russia?” The hypothesis is that some factors including the NATO expansion, the EU expansion and the US and EU’s economic and political actions in the Russia’s “Near Abroad” are among the most important causes for the recent crisis between the EU and Russia. The research approach used in this article is analytic-descriptive.  

Abstract The Russian Gazprom, one of the world's leading oil giants, is not only dominating over most Russian gas resources, but have made a vast attempt to seize the world energy markets as well. Accordingly, the company is now enjoying a prominent position in the strategic energy equation. Without any support from Russian government, Gazprom could have not actualized the dream. Aiming at examining the stance of Gazprom in the World energy equations, the article is to explore the company's attempt to expand its global markets.

Abstract Increasing energy consumption and lack of alternative sources for fossil fuels are the main concerns for the industrialized nations of the world. Security of energy supply sources and routes are of high importance for these countries, including the European Union. To reduce its vulnerability and to diversify both sources and routes, the EU has paid special attention to the South Caucasus, but security problems and Russia's influence in the region has encountered some challenges.             To address these challenges and meet its energy security needs, the EU has used a variety of tools and strategies. This article tries to study the EU's energy security strategy and the threats imposed on it in the South Caucasus region. It also shows the EU's attempt to support democratic process and economic liberalization inside the countries of the region and to strengthen the integrating process and its subsequent relationship with the European structures, and the way through which it has increased its presence in the region.