Multidimensional analysis of international, (intra-)regional and domestic politics in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

The chapter aims at describing different concepts employed to understand Central Asia and the South Caucasus at the international, (intra-)regional, and domestic (intrastate) levels. At the international level, five concepts of Central Asia and the South Caucasus were presented: (1) out-of-this-region neighboring countries “flank,” (2) Caspian Sea basin, (3) the new Silk Road; (4) new Great Game, and (5) new region and space for regionalism. Secondly, at the intraregional level, border disputes, and water and energy management disagreements as the main tools to understand regional relations are introduced. Finally, at the intrastate (domestic) level different conflicts between elites (reform v. rent-seeking, secular v. religious, inter-clan rivalry) and ethnic groups are characterized. The authors highlight the fact that actors from those (analytically) separated levels (in real-world) interact in the form of cooperation or conflict. The paper concludes that processes developed at those three levels in Central Asia and the South Caucasus (e.g. great powers competition, intraregional conflicts and intra-elite disagreements) are undermining Western concept of statehood (based on the idea of the unity and sovereignty of states) and international relations. In conclusion, the authors claim that this region forces researchers to focus on non-Western international relations theories which could be able to handle the international, (intra-)regional, and domestic actors shaping its fate