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The Center for Peacemaking Practice and the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
at George Mason University cordially invites you to join the
launch of the book “ABKHAZIA: BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE” on:
16 October 2013, Wednesday
1pm – 2.30 pm
School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Arlington Campus, 3434 Washington Blvd, Metropolitan Building, Conference Room 5183, Arlington VA 22201
We invite you to take part in the discussion on the book with Dr. Sergey Markedonov, distinguished scholar specializing on the security and ethno-political issues of the Caucasus who is the author of the two chapters and co-editor of the book. He is a Visiting Fellow of Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center of Strategic and International Studies based in Washington DC.
The primary objective of the book “Abkhazia: Between the Past and the Future” is to present the “Abkhazian case” in its entire complicated and contradictory context. The editors of the book (Islam Tekushev, Sergey Markedonov and Kirill Shevchenko) believe that this could be instrumental and helpful in promoting deeper understanding of the complicated process underway in that part of the South Caucasus. The book includes chapters both on history of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, current situation in Abkhazia and around it as well as sociological materials concerning current topical issues of this de facto republic.
The countries of the South Caucasus have come through their second decade as independent states, while the general situation in this region is far from stable or predictable. Six of the eight ethno-political conflicts in the former USSR have taken place in the Caucasus and three of the four de facto entities in the FSU have been found in the region. These turbulent conditions provoke the interest and engagement of both regional and global actors as well as substantial attention of scholars.
The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict is well studied, particularly in connection with the August war of 2008 and Russia’s subsequent decision to recognize Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence, which produced new significant challenge for the whole Caucasus region. However, it has been considered primarily through the prism of the U.S.-Russia geopolitical rivalry.
At the same time seems nonetheless to be a certain lack of a balance in analyzing the proper Abkhazian case, as the most attention is being paid to the current political dimension while the historical and cultural context, which crucially important for an adequate understanding of the roots and perspectives of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, is frequently being overlooked and underestimated.