بردیا تراب خانلی

Abstract

In the decades following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, as the heir of this superpower, has confronted numerous crises in terms of identity, security, economics and politics. Facing these crises, Russia has tried to re-introduce itself in the form of Neo-Eurasianism and redefine the identity and boundaries of the Russian Federation. The Neo-Eurasianism led by Aleksandr Dugin is understood as a fusion of expansionist and mystical notions of >  This thesis examines the Neo-Eurasianism security impacts on the republics of South Caucasus, with the emphasis on the Georgian crisis and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The main question is: “What are the security impacts of Russia’s Neo-Eurasianism on the Republics of South Caucasus?” And the hypothesis to answer this question is: “It seems that, Russia’s Neo-Eurasianism ideology had created a recognizable pattern which can be used to understand Russian policies toward the republics of South Caucasus after the collapse of Soviet Union.” The purpose of this research lies in a fact there are limited research about Russia’s Neo-Eurasianism and these researches haven't found all the gaps behind the development the Russia’s Neo-Eurasianism security impacts on the republics of Caucasus, our goal is to find the new factors and causes behind the development of security impacts of this ideology on the republics of South Caucasus.

The structure of this thesis is divided into five chapter; the first chapter talks about the organization of research, while the second chapter talks about the development of Eurasianism is theoretical framework and examines the historical background of Dugin’s Neo-Eurasianism back to the >  Dugin’s Neo-Eurasianism has enriched the earlier concepts of special geographical space and civilization of Eurasia with an anti-Liberalism ideology borrowed from varied range of geopolitical theories from Halford Mackinder to Friedrich Ratzel and Karl Haushofer. Aleksandr Dugin used the Mackinder geopolitical theory at the heart of his geopolitical view and divided the world into civilizational types categorized by their location in the Heartland, the Inner Crescent, or the Outer Crescent.

The Outer Crescent is best represented by Great Britain and later USA. The Heartland stretches from Moscow to Persian Gulf, is continental, and its economic activity is reliant upon land and has a close connection to the soil. The Heartland is location of the ‘geographical pivot of history’. The inner Crescent generally is composed of the lands that lie between the Outer Crescent and the Heartland. This division intensified the dualism view of Neo-Eurasianism, Atlanticism vs. Eurasianism, in which United States and Britain are understood as Atlantic (outer crescent) civilization and supporters of globalism with a mission to subject Eurasian (Heartland) civilization, as the leader of anti-globalist coalition.

Building upon this geopolitical context, Neo-Eurasianism has become a link between the Russian traditional geopolitical considerations of territorial expansion and major ideology, which was missing after the collapse of Soviet Union and fall of communism. As part of this ideology, Neo-Eurasianists conceptualizes South Caucasus as the strategic region where Eurasian civilization confront Atlantic civilization. The region is of great geo-strategic importance in linking the European continent with the Middle East and the Black Sea with the Caspian Sea. This is particularly important given the energy riches found in the Caspian Sea and illustrated by the pipelines – the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa oil pipelines and the South Caucasus Pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum (BTE) (gas) – Which run through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Türkiye, bypassing Russia.

Russia under Neo-Eurasianism saw NATO’s enlargement, as an increasing influence of Atlantic civilization, in South Caucasus as a part of their goal for counteracting the integration processes in Eurasia and a serious threat toward the Russia’s security. The Neo-Eurasianism demanded two responses toward Atlantic civilization expansionism in the South Caucasus. First, military approach, they demand increasing numbers of Russia’s military presence and bases through South Caucasus. Second, economic and political approach, they demand intensified political and economic relation with the three republics of South Caucasus. In order to actives these goals, the Neo-Eurasianists suggest Russia to take advantage of ethnic diversity and existing conflicts in South Caucasus, between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as instabilities in Georgia, mainly in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, to keep South Caucasus under its full control as a line of Defense along the parallels Black – Caspian Seas (West-East) and South Caucasus - North Caucasus (South -North) directions.