11 Eylül Sonrası Dönemde Kafkasya’da Bölgesel Güvenlik: Eski Çatışmalar ve Yeni Açılımlar

This article seeks to explore the changing parameters of regional security in the Caucasus in the aftermath of 9/11. The main argument of the article is as follows: the failure to settle the continuing old ethnic conflicts served not only to consolidate Russia’s regional influence but also to hamper the new openings of the United States as a global power and Turkey as an emerging regional actor. The new openings of the United States and Turkey aim at solving old conflicts through dialogue and promoting democratic political structures, free trade and pluralist socio-cultural identities. In this context, the Russia-Georgia War in 2008 over the South Ossetian conflict strengthened Russia’s influence in the Caucasus while making it more difficult to implement these new openings. Consequently, regional security problems in the Caucasus have become even more complicated.