External Publications

By Veronika Pfeilschifter

Published by: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD); Volume 127

Permanent link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000554652External link 

This article explores the European Union’s (EU) resilience approach by focusing on post-authoritarian transitional justice (TJ) and examining the situation in Armenia from 2018 to 2022. After elaborating on the relationship between TJ and societal resilience, it draws on four aspects. It examines first the Armenian government’s implemented TJ measures and its modest increase of societal resilience; second, the EU’s ‘halfhearted’ TJ role; and third, the EU’s resilience agenda in Armenia since 2021, and its decreased discursive devotion to TJ. Finally, it gives recommendations to the Armenian government and the EU on how to revitalise TJ implementation in order to enhance societal resilience in Armenia.

By Diana Forker and Natia Botkoveli  

Published by: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD); Volume 127

Permanent link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000554652External link  

This paper is intended as a contribution to discussions of the concept of resilience in linguistics, with a focus on minority language speakers in Georgia. For our study, representatives of three of Georgia’s largest minority groups—Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Chechens—have been interviewed. The sociolinguistic situations of the respective speech communities in Georgia only partially overlap, but all three ethnolinguistic communities maintain a strong cultural identity and they rarely engage in ethnically mixed relationships. The goal of the study is to give insights into the current language situation seen from the native speakers’ viewpoint and to testify as to whether language attitude and knowledge can benefit the resilience of minorities in the majority community.

By Tiffany G. Williams

Published by: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD); Volume 127

Permanent link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000554652External link  

The Eastern Partnership and closer integration with European Union (EU) Member States has had an undeniable impact on democratization and economic progress for Georgia. Brussels has demonstrated its commitment to support Georgia’s security and territorial integrity through the EU’s third-party mediation role during the 2008 Russia–Georgia war and its ongoing unarmed civilian border monitoring mission. However, the EU contends with disparities between and contestations from its Member States regarding collective defence and security decisions. Therefore, support from other actors is also critical for establishing resilient defence capacity in Georgia. Georgia’s participation with NATO and bilateral agreement with the United States offer valuable means through which Georgia can meet its security and defence objectives. This article discusses these partnerships in order to show that they provide a unique contribution that is necessary for establishing resilience in Georgia’s security and defence capacity alongside the democratic, political,
and economic objectives of the EU–Georgia partnership.

By Bidzina Lebanidze, Ashot Aleksanyan, and Irena Gonashvili 

Published by: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD); Volume 127

Permanent link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000554652  

This article seeks to explore whether and to what extent the ‘resilience turn’ in the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy-making affected the EU’s (lack of) actorness in the South Caucasus region in security-related areas such as conflict and crisis management and geopolitical rivalries. While Brussels has intensified its policies in most policy sectors, the EU and its member states continue turning a blind eye to geopolitical dynamics in the region. Yet, recent empirical evidence from Armenia and Georgia shows that decoupling of
sectoral cooperation from security-related issues is not sustainable in the long term since, if left unchecked, geopolitical risks can easily thwart the progress achieved in sectoral policy areas and lead to a lower degree of state and societal resilience. Therefore, the key question remains whether the EU and its member states can sustainably promote state and societal resilience if they continue ignoring geopolitical risks and other security-related issues.