scholarly journals The situation of freedom of religion and belief in the South Caucasus

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
Shorena Kobaidze
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
The Past

Attitude towards freedom of religion and belief, tolerance and the concept of multiculturalism, as well as generally towards the protection of the rights of national, ethnic and religious minorities, remains extremely difficult in the South Caucasus region. Despite the declared strong tradition of public religious tolerance, the attitude of government agencies and institutions to religious freedom has worsened in both Azerbaijan and Georgia over the past few years. If in Azerbaijan the authorities in recent years continued to impose fines for violating the repressive law on religion of 2009, adopting new restrictions and further aggravating the general atmosphere, in Georgia since the establishment of the new state agency on religions in 2014, there are no effective mechanisms for resolving minority issues have not been taken.

Beyond Religious Freedom

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religious Difference ◽  
Power Difference ◽  
Ways Of Being

In recent years, North American and European nations have sought to legally remake religion in other countries through an unprecedented array of international initiatives. Policymakers have rallied around the notion that the fostering of religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, religious tolerance, and protections for religious minorities are the keys to combating persecution and discrimination. This book argues that these initiatives create the very social tensions and divisions they are meant to overcome. It looks at three critical channels of state-sponsored intervention: international religious freedom advocacy, development assistance and nation building, and international law. It shows how these initiatives make religious difference a matter of law, resulting in a divide that favors forms of religion authorized by those in power and excludes other ways of being and belonging. In exploring the dizzying power dynamics and blurred boundaries that characterize relations between “expert religion,” “governed religion,” and “lived religion,” the book charts new territory in the study of religion in global politics. The book provides new insights into today's most pressing dilemmas of power, difference, and governance.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehran Kamrava
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Middle Powers

As middle powers with regional aspirations, Iran and Turkey see the South Caucasus region as an ideal arena for expanding their reach and influence. As post-sanctions Iran finds greater space for diplomacy and trade, the ensuing competition between the two neighboring countries is likely to intensify in the coming years. For both states, trade and soft power are the most viable tools for expanding their influence. In the long run, the competition in trade is only likely to benefit the three states of the South Caucasus. But it is also likely to keep the multiple conflicts that have ravaged the region over the last several decades — especially between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia and Georgia, and even the historic animosity between Turkey and Armenia — frozen and without a solution in sight.

Pipeline Politics in Iran, Turkey, and the South Caucasus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood Monshipouri
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
Territorial Conflicts

The relationship between Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus states have been influenced by an array of geopolitical, strategic, cultural, and economic factors. The competition between Iran and Turkey and their roles in the South Caucasus are best defined by traditional balance-of-power relations and the broader context of the post-Soviet era. This chapter unpacks the complex dynamics of pipeline politics in the South Caucasus region by underlying the need to understand the “Great Power Game” involving geostrategic and geo-economic interests of local governments, regional actors, global powers, and international oil companies. The larger focus turns on underscoring the importance of the region’s large oil and gas reserves; its land connection between the Caspian Sea, South Caucasus, and Europe; and its long-standing territorial conflicts in the post-Soviet era. Iran and Turkey have fought for influence in the South Caucasus while maintaining relatively good bilateral relationships in the region.

OSCE IN GEORGIA: IN SEARCH FOR A NEW FORMAT

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-114
Author(s):  
FEDOR N. BUGAEV ◽  
◽  
GEORGE M. TURAVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Assessment ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Regional Stability ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
Peaceful Settlement ◽  
High Conflict

his article examines the activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to resolve the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts. The OSCE is one of the most important structures in ensuring regional stability and security, but in the current conditions it does not use the set of tools at its disposal to an adequate extent. The high conflict potential of the South Caucasus region and the specificity of the contradictions between the parties do not allow the use of identical formats for the settlement. This article conducts a retrospective analysis of the OSCE's participation in the conflicts in Georgia, identify the weak and strong sides of the organization's existing tools and propose new mechanisms and initiatives for the region under consideration that are in the OSCE's arsenal, but need more flexibility and adaptability to specific cases. Thus, the paper is aimed primarily at rethinking the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the peaceful settlement of conflicts in Georgia in the current geopolitical conditions through a comprehensive assessment of the OSCE's potential in the specified region.

scholarly journals Turkish policy in the South Caucasus

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-297
Author(s):  
M. S. Suvanova
Keyword(s):  
Global Politics ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
The Status ◽  
Energy Aspect ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Cultural Components

The South Caucasus region traditionally has an important role to play in global politics. This region for centuries has been an arena of confrontation for geopolitical and geostrategic interests between regional states and world powers; this affected the main transport routes, different cultures and religions. With the collapse of the USSR, the South Caucasus became an important and strategic place for Western countries; this bolstered the weakening of Russian influence in the region and the creation of a catalyst for further strengthening of its partners. Western countries sought to establish control over the extraction and diversification of Azerbaijani hydrocarbons. To fulfill these goals Western countries have relied on their ally Turkey, which also pursues its interests in the South Caucasus region.Since the early 1990s, Turkey’s policy towards the countries of the South Caucasus has intensified. Turkey developed policies of expanding its influence in the region. These policies were complex; it included both economic, energy and cultural components. A key element of Turkey’s policy in the region was the energy aspect. In the issue of diversifying the energy resources of the South Caucasus Turkey has made significant progress by implementing projects of pipelines going through its territory, she achieved the status of an energetic conveyor. Another important area of Turkey’s policy in the South Caucasus was the cultural and educational aspect. It is based on the policy of «neo-Ottomanism», which includes elements of «pan-Turkism». The main purpose of this idea was to expand Turkey’s influence by educating pro-Turkic youth in the countries of the region, and also create a positive image for Turkey among various segments of the population that would support its policies.The peculiarity of Turkey’s policy is a multilateral and flexible policy that includes both economic integration, energy cooperation, and a soft and effective policy that includes cultural interaction based on ethnic and linguistic similarity. 

Turks will treat carefully Russian build-up in Armenia

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Air Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Military Threat ◽  
Combat Aircraft ◽  
The Military

Subject Russia's deployment of drones at its base in Armenia. Significance After a significant upgrade and expansion of Russian air power in Armenia over the past two months, including the deployment of a combat helicopter squadron and additional fixed-wing combat aircraft, a new delivery of drones has further bolstered Russian capabilities in Gyumri, Russia's sole base in the South Caucasus. Impacts Advanced Russian UAVs will significantly expand surveillance capacity, with nearby Turkey the obvious target. The move will reassure Armenia of Russia's commitment to its security. If Armenia now exaggerates the military threat from Turkey, it could complicate the outlook for reopening their closed border.

STRATEGIC DEFENCE REVIEW IN THE CONTEXT OF DEFENCE REFORMS

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-149
Author(s):  
AREN SARGSYAN ◽  
TIGRAN KOCHARYAN
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Public Security ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Defense Strategies ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
The World ◽  
Strategic Defense ◽  
The Republic

The South Caucasus region is characterized by the presence of frozen conflicts, the activation of impending threats. For security and stability problematic is the important factor that the countries in the region have adopted a diametrically different security and defense strategies, policy of joining the centers of power and allies. Continuing development of defense capabilities is a logical choice for Armenia, which follows from the aims of the state and public security, and the maintenance and, if necessary, even the world compulsion. To achieve these objectives in the Republic of Armenia is carried out the process, which called the Strategic Defense Review.

scholarly journals Freedom of Religion: The Contribution of Contemporary Iranian Reformist Scholars

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
The State ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Specific Line

This article examines a specific line of thinking shared by several contemporary reformist Iranian religious scholars who present arguments in favor of freedom of religion. Focusing on the ideas of five prominent reformist Iranian scholars—Abdolkarim Soroush (b.1945), Muhammad Mujtahed Shabestari (b.1936), Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari (b.1950), Mohsen Kadivar (b.1959), and Ahmad Qabel (d.2012)—the article argues that these thinkers’ defense of freedom of religion is based not only on their interpretations of the Qurʾān and historical Islamic sources, but also philosophical arguments in which concepts from the fields of epistemology and hermeneutics are deployed. As the article demonstrates, some of these scholars connect the notion of freedom of religion to political arguments supporting religious tolerance, or the view that, in order to guarantee religious freedom, the state must be neutral towards the religious orientation of its citizens.

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