International Relations at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

The study looks at the post-soviet developments in the Tskhinvali Region, Georgia, through the interaction of internal and external elites. It downplays the viability of the use of the term ethnic conflict for describing the Georgian-South Ossetian confrontation, offering the idea of using the term Tskhinvali Region as the best option to denote conflict, thus avoiding the use of historically and ethnically charged concepts. In terms of interaction of the internal and external agencies the broader picture of the post-soviet regional developments is staged. In this respect, the processes of emergence and grounding of the major players (Russian Federation, OSCE, USA, EU) are set in a comparative perspective. The research brings the analysis of the developments up to the August, 2008. This event follows the line of the main argument, proves the main hypothesis and poses some crucial questions and research problems in terms of the regional and international repercussions of ethnic conflicts. The book should be interesting for political scientists, historians and IR specialists, working on the problems of nationalism and identity of the post- soviet Caucasus.

This study reflects on the role of institutions and institutional actors in the conflict over Abkhazia from the late 1980s till the Russian recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the August War of 2008. Institutionalism is chosen as the theoretical framework of the study. The investigation does not follow the traditional chronological description, but offers a problem-based narration. The research explores the Soviet-inherited institutions (constitutions, supreme soviets, political and economic decrees) which determined the path-dependence of the conflict. The research claims that the failure of the conflict resolution projects was caused by divergent interpretations of the future institutional relations between the two ethnic groups. Therefore, overcoming the Soviet institutionally inherited legacies is the number one problem. It is also argued that the re-institutionalization of Georgian-Abkhazian relations requires the re-modeling of the relations between external actors. Nevertheless, the flexibility of institutional solutions brings some hopes for the re-negotiation of inter-ethnic political relations between Georgians and Abkhazians.

The project tried to answer the questions on the origin and outcomes of the conflicts in the selected countries and to present to Ukrainian audience the negative impact the above-mentioned conflicts had on the development of the respective countries.

The project tried to analyze the peculiar role of institutions and institutional actors in the conflict over Abkhazia from the late 1980s till the Russian recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the August War of 2008. It looked at the post-Soviet developments through the wider prism of the institutional account. The research explored the internal institutions inherited from the Soviet times as the main factors contributing to the crystallization of the conflict. The research demonstrated that the post-Soviet Georgian and Abkhazian national projects were supported politically, economically and culturally through the Soviet-era institutional policies and structural creations. In this respect the study analyzed the problem through the range of regional, Soviet-inherited institutions (constitutions, supreme soviets, various economic and political decrees), which determined the path-dependence of the conflict. The study explored the Georgian and Abkhazian conflict resolution projects of the early 1990s and the early 2000s and highlighted their main elements. It argued that the main deficiency and failures of those projects stemmed from the divergent interpretation of future institutional relations between the two ethnic groups and the exclusion of the possibility for creating joint institutional space for future inter-ethnic relations. Exploring the pre- and post-August War developments, the study argued that the satisfactory integration of the Russian Federation in any peace plan is the necessary precondition for the regulation of the conflict over Abkhazia. The study concludes that the overcoming of the Soviet institutionally inherited legacies is the number one problem, although it is also demonstrated that the reinstitutionalization of Georgian-Abkhazian relations requires the re-modeling of the relations between the external actors in the wider geopolitical space. It also asserts that the flexibility of institutional solutions brings some hopes for the re-negotiation of the inter-ethnic political relations between Georgians and Abkhazians.