JOURNAL OF CENTERAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS STUDIES
Year:2012 | Volume:18 | Issue:79|Papers Count:8

Since long ago, competitions and rivalries have always been observed among major world powers as different actors. In this process, major powers have sought to extend their area of influence over the whole regions of the globe. These powers utilize all possible facilities and instruments to translate into reality their interests and purposes. Therefore, international diplomacy has been analyzed based on the competition index among major powers. One of the areas over which rivalries have been intense is the Central Asia and Caucasus, which witnessed a sort of power vacuum after collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Geo-political, geo-strategic, and geo-economic conditions of these areas have provoked major powers to bear vehement inclination for attendance and playing role therein. As two key actors in international system, China and the United States have made tremendous efforts to stabilize their influence over the Central Asian states in recent past. In the present article, areas of rivalry between the US and China in Central Asia will be under sharp focus.

Due to the culmination and continuation of Arab uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, once again the question has risen whether the scope of the uprisings will extend to other parts of the world, particularly in the Central Asia and the Caucasus. Tajikistan, in this region, has far more fragile situation than others and its most significant political-security event in the past was the civil war. Since then, drug transition has posed a remarkable security threat to the country. The July 2012 events in Badakhshan, not only revived the memory of the Tajik civil war in the minds, but showed the fragility of peace in the country. Thus, the study of the roots and consequences of Badakhshan event may largely reflect the political and security prospect in Tajikistan.

This paper studies and compares Islamic Republic of Iran’s and Russian Federation’s positions and performance in some of important regional issues of the south Caucasus. Both of them beside the common grounds in their foreign policy positions and approaches toward the region, have some different points in regional policy about some of regional issues and subjects. In this paper, some issues including the definition of legal regime of Caspian Sea, conflict of Karabakh and its solution process, conflict of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and issues of region’s oil and gas transport will be studied. Thus, after explanation of IRI’s and RF’s positions and foreign policy on the above mentioned issues, they will be compared.

In the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, although geopolitical theory of New World Order, could nor provide the world within a comprehensive order, the globalization process could seriously influence upon world’s strategies. Abreast with this, new challenges have emerged with political, economic, cultural, and security fields being affected. Although Caucasus area, as one of the major geopolitical regions of the world, is neighbor to Russia, Iran, and Central Asia, it includes particular ethnicities, large energy resources, and significant transit roads and its political geography is overshadowed by such issues as nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism.This study is aimed at investigating the effect of globalization phenomenon upon security constructs of Caucasus area, analyzing the role of ethnicities and Islamic fundamentalism in these structures and peace-making geo-political constructs therein. Achieved results seem to be indicative of Russian and American rivalries in this region. Therefore, security structures are a function of these countries’ activities in Caucasus and an analysis of their policies in this region.

The Karabakh conflict has not been resolved since two decades ago the current process indicates its future in the aura of ambiguity. According to the results of this research, the loss of an integrated approach in international mediation efforts is the main obstacle to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. This is a function of the strategic interests and different geopolitical understanding of the actors interested in international mediation, their different vision to the crisis, biased behavior of mediators and other complex conditions of international mediation in the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. In the meantime, a close and comprehensive study of the international mediation experience in the context of the United Nations and OSCE in the Nagorno-Karabakh show that some other goals are pursued beyond humanitarian purposes in this process. In this regard, by using the crisis management in the context of mediation mechanism as a political instrument, the main actors (Russia, the USA and France) in this international mediation are trying not only to strengthen their influence in the South Caucasus, but also to contain the increasing influence of their competitors.

Due to its particular geopolitical, economic, civilization and strategic location, Iran has always faced various threats by the superpowers. To this, Russia (former Soviet Union) as the Iran’s northern neighbor has had a special place, where one can say that changes in the relations between the two countries have had the highest impact on Iran’s security considerations. The Soviet Union was regarded as a threat for Iran’s security. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Iran’s perceived threat from Russia’s borders moved to the mountains of the Caucasus. The collapse of Soviet Union and the independence of the Central Asian republics provided Iran with opportunities (and to some degree challenges). The main question that this paper addresses is dealing with Iran’s attitude towards security in the region? With a consideration to the political, social and security challenges. The main hypothesis of this paper is that the region republics will achieve their goals in a stable and secured situation and this will provide better condition for Iran in order to gain its national interests.In short, Iran has tried to develop economic and cultural relations (which is common in bilateral and multilateral security), with the region, and to help the republics to solve their problems and crises. In addition, Tehran has attempted to prevent regional and global powers influence in this region and tied its interests with this region’s interests.