‍Central Asia and The Caucasus Journal

Abstract            Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and almost after two decades, India’s hopes for US support for effectively connect it to the landlocked Commonwealth of Independent States in Central Asia were dashed away. Exploring other connectivity options including the International North–South Transport Corridor -or Iran as the lynchpin of its connectivity- was delayed under the US pressures. Other alternatives were also not feasible. Therefore, given the trajectory of political economy of India’s foreign policy, the main question of this article is ‘what are the best options to get India connected to Central Asia? The hypothesis is that, the demise of the American hegemony has led India to a diversification in its policies. To conclude, the authors develop a model to verify India's foreign policy, and further, they argue that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy of "Alliance with the United States and the West"; the prospects of India's re-orientation to a balanced multi-alignment policy; as well as India's CIS strategies would be subject to further studies. 

Abstract   In international relations today, dominance on oil and gas resources and their pipelines draw attention of many policy makers. Therefore those countries that possess energy – oriented policies make most of their decisions upon their energy resources. Russia also uses energy as leverage for reinstruction of its power while it exports natural gas to Europe. Facing a reduction in its military power and its political position, as well as structural economic problems, and using a pragmatist approach, Russia acknowledges its energy resources as the most important element for wining in international competitions. Therefore it tries highly to use its energy resources as a political weapon and an important leverage in its foreign policy.
The present article attempts to answer the following question: Which strategies in energy area are used by Russia and how its goals are assessed? The article argues that Russia tries to use energy as leverage in interaction with other countries so that it can gain control over energy markets and play a significant role in world’s political and geopolitical issues. 

Abstract              The problem of unrecognized and de - facto states that came into being simultaneously with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the power vacuum, were formed based on ethnic conflicts in some of the newly independent republics, and is considered as one of the most important issues in the post-Soviet political space. Among the states separated from the Soviet Union the Republic of Georgia is an appropriate case for studying the status of informal governments, as mentioned in the article. In this regard, the following question is studied in the present article:   How do unrecognized states affect on the process of state-building in the Republic of Georgia? The unrecognized states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have had a negative impact on state building in the Republic of Georgia; that are discussed in the article. The research method used in this article was descriptive-analytical method.

Abstract            Israel’s doctrine of periphery alliance has always functioned as a means to higher security, development of economic relations, and also counteracting the isolation of its government in the region. By finding the regional condition as not satisfactory, Israel has attempted to compensate for its isolation through relations with peripheral governments. Within several decades this doctrine has preserved its form; however, following the middle east transformation in 2011, the periphery doctrine has gained a new content and form ever since and Israel tries to add new regions and countries to its classic agenda. A region that has an outstanding role in the new alliance is Central Asia and the Caucasus. Among Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan is very important for Israel due to its significant political and economic role in the region. The purpose of this research is to analyze the nature and mechanism of Israel’s new doctrine of periphery alliances and its aims in the region after 2011 transformations. This study intends to answer the question that what are the main reasons and motivations of Israel in getting involved in Central Asia and strengthening relationships with countries such as Kazakhstan? The findings indicate that in the new doctrine of periphery alliances, Israel looks beyond the reach of Middle East and in this status, regions and countries that could drag Israel out of the regional political and economic isolation are undeniably important. Central Asia, with its strategic and geopolitical significance and also its economic potentials, can offer what Israel needs.    

Abstract With the decline of the Kemalist discourse and the victory of the Islamists, Turkey’s foreign policy has undergone fundamental changes. Contrary to the past, Ankara's ambitions does not consider Turkey as  a bridge between  East and West, but a central country among strategic areas such as the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Balkans, and the Middle East. The Neo-Ottomanism doctrine of the AKP seeks to expand Turkish influence in the periphery and integrate it with those societies under the goal of gaining global strategic importance for Turkey. Despite the failure of Ankara's integrationist approach in some geographic areas such as the Middle East, the main question of the paper implies the factors that have contributed to the success of Turkey's peripheral approach toward the Republic of Azerbaijan. It seems that ethnic and cultural ties, strong economic relations especially in the field of energy and the geopolitical weight of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the geopolitical competitions of Turkey and Russia have facilitated the cooperation of Turkey with the Republic of Azerbaijan.            The main purpose of this article is to examine the foreign policy of the Justice and Development party in the Caucasus and in relation to the Republic of Azerbaijan. In this paper, attempts are made to analyze the reasons for the success of Turkey's peripheral approach toward the Republic of Azerbaijan in a descriptive and analytical way and using the convergence theoretical framework

Abstract Competitive behavior of the countries in economic area of contemporary era has led to the formation of new theoretical approaches for explaining those behaviors. In the mentioned era, economy has once again been noticed as the main motivation for world powers’ competition. Strategic relations between US and China also have the mentioned characteristic. Their competition in Tajikistan is seen as a new form of competition in international arena. Therefore the present article tries to answer the following question: What are the most important elements in competitive interaction between US and China in Tajikistan? According to the hypothesis, the most important elements in competitive interaction between the two countries are defined in two categories of economics and security. The mentioned competition has also its impact on the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran.