The Caucasus And The Territorial Integrity of Russia

Uniteds States’ foreign relations with Russia have been shaky even after the fall of the USSR in 1991, most notably because Russian leaders have never been very supportive of the United States’ global democratic influence. However, with the collapse of the Soviet economy, Russia realized that democratic economic policies were probably the only path to a successful and thriving country. But with recent U.S. intervention in Russian foreign policy over the annexation of Crimea and the unstable Ukrainian conflicts, relations with Russia have become especially hostile. Therefore the U.S. should take a look at the implications of losing stable relations with Russia (as it has in the past few years) and instead strengthen these relations, to

One country is comparable to the United States of America in terms of world power and prominence. Russia makes their name known beginning in World War 2 (WW2), later in the Korean War, Cold War, and today’s proxy war in the Syria. Russia’s culture, environment, politics, military, and economy do not just make Russia a regional powerhouse, but slowly becoming a region of influential power to surrounding countries with the end state of a global superpower. All the factors that make Russia the powerhouse that it is slowly becoming, highlights the impressive trend that supersedes the previous Soviet Union and past leaders.

The Transcontinental Caucus Zone is dominated in the resources and minerals that could sustain several economies. However, even with the abundance of natural resources available to the Caucus region, the area continues to fail to reach its economic potential due to political and social turmoil. Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are of particular interest due to the nature of their territorial size and political influence in the Caucus region. The political and social stability of Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are an essential part in determining the future of the Caucuses. Each country’s style of government will be addressed, as well how that government developed to its current state. Additionally, an examination of the relationship between the people and governments in each country will aid in drawing conclusions about their future success and the success of the entire Caucus region.

The foreign policies of Russia also compliments in many ways its domestic policies, both in the apparent want for dominance and security in the focal point on sovereignty. These aims lead to an importance on bringing back Russia’s international status and removing positions of power that Western states have had in Russia

From 1785 to present day Chechnya and Russia have had conflicts. Starting in 1785, Russia only cared for the Caucasus region for its use as a communication track to Georgia. Russian allies Cossacks started settling in the Caucasus Mountains and that region began expanding. After they signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, they collected Georgia as a territory. They manufactured a road and military forts for security of the passageway. The Russians began to feel endangered because Sheikh Mansur started preaching an uncommon style of Islam. They tried to capture Mansur but failed. Since they failed they ended up burning the village where he lived.

The fallout from the collapse of the Soviet Union over twenty years ago has brought many changes that still resonate in today's world. The balkanization of the Soviet State has created many new relationships and alliances that were not present through most of the twentieth century. The article entitled " Counter Terrorist Operation in Chechnya Officially Ended" although written nearly three and half years ago, captures the confusion and difficult processes that accompany a global power's collapse like that of the Soviet Union. The purpose of this essay is to examine the current stability of Chechnya and its future prospects as a stable and effective nation state.

For my book review I have evaluated and read “Putin’s Wars: The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism” by Marcel H. Van Herpen, published by Rowman & Littlefield. The book consists of three parts: Part 1 “Russia and the Curse of Empire” (chapters 1-5), Part 2 “The Internal War” (chapters 6-9), and Part 3 “The Wheels of War” (chapters 10-18). In writing this review I wish to inform readers about the rise of Russia’s new imperialism. Russia’s empire had not been was not built overseas like other empires, instead it was considered contiguous and continental. The thesis of this book is that unlike in Western Europe, where the process of decolonization was not the same as Russia.

Russia is a huge landmass and covers a vast amount of the earth’s surface area. Being so large, Russia contains a huge variety of different geographical features. There are several mountains, rivers, bodies of water, climate zones, and population centers in Russia. Most of the development in Russia is located in its core area, east of the Ural Mountains. There are several countries around Russia that used to be parts of a larger union called The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, however, in 1991, the USSR broke apart into several other independent states. The new states that were formed are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and

The place that’s the state of Russia has been occupied by the citizens for thousands of years. King Rurik of the Rus was the founder of the first new and modern political body of Russia on 862. King Rurik of the Rus was the one who made the ruler of Novgorod. As years passes by, the Rus trounce and conquered the city of Kiev. Rus has become a authoritative, powerful and a influential empire in Europe reaching its pinnacle under Yaroslav I the wise and Vladimir the Great. In the 13th century, by the leadership of Batu Khan, the Mongols invade the area and wiped out the Kievan Rus. (Nelson, 2015)

It is believed that about one million Armenians died in the catastrophic event. Afterwards, Armenia became a country of people that were affect of the event that took place. For a brief period of time, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan belonged to a region known as the Transcaucasian Federation. It only lasted a month until it was taken over by the Bolsheviks. The reason of why the Bolsheviks were so successful of taking this region is that many Caucasians were part of the Bolshevik movement. So, it just was easy for Bolsheviks to take this region, because of the amount of support that they already had in the region. Eventually, this would lead to the Soviet rule of the Caucasus

While the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was the driving force behind the two powers’ interests in the Middle East, both had their own specific agendas, which need to be realized before focusing in on the rivalry itself. The Soviet Union had major

After the last war, in 1994-96,Chechnya was devastated and eventually turned into a chaotic uncontrollable place. Its economy declined rapidly, and poverty in the nation increased. Crimes occurred everywhere, and hostage -taking became a famous business for some criminal gangs. Within this overall framework of decay, there have been three main factors that led to the present conflict between Russia and Chechnya.

The potential political struggle for dominance and insurgent activity in the Caucasus Region jeopardizes the infrastructure and economic resources of the countries within the region and the global economy. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is the major economic structure between the balances of power for the World. With Russia’s and Iran’s inability to corner the energy market, these key players are fueling dissention and unrest together with each countries internal disputes the region requires careful analysis and courses of action to promote regional stability; counter terrorism and advance the United States (US) interest within the area. Current Status quo and operational strategies and policies would be the

The crisis in Ukraine and Crimea’s recent accession to Russia are events that clearly highlight the underlying sources of conflict in global politics. While Russia sees its actions in Crimea as a “reunification” and the respect for the right of self-determination, the West views it as a threat to European security and a violation of territorial integrity. Crimea has been a debatable topic from the time it came under the control of the Russian Empire in 1783 during the reign of Catherine the Great. The justification then was similar to the reasoning being used by Vladimir Putin today. Catherine declared that she was protecting ethnic Russians in the region from the Ottoman Empire, much as Putin is claiming to protect Russians from Ukrainian

Russia’s falling economy and the possibility of a spike in oil prices was a key catalyst to their participation in the Syrian crisis. Russia’s economy is intimately linked to oil as one of the world’s largest oil producers. There are estimates that Russia loses approximately $2 billion for each $1 dollar decrease in the price of oil (Bowler). With such a large dependency on oil, there is a clear economic incentive for Russia’s participation in the conflict since entering could lead to a rise in oil prices, and ultimately Russia’s economy (Holodny). Oil becomes the fuel to the fire of an animosity that has been in place for centuries between the United States and Russia.