Russia’s foreign policy in the South Caucasus

This chapter transforms a rich and detailed historical explanation of Russia's foreign policy in the South Caucasus into a more abstract and selective one presented in theoretical concepts. It validates neo classical realists' assumptions and suggests that Russia's foreign policy in the South Caucasus was and still is nothing else than the attempt to achieve centralized power within Russia and the near abroad using territorial expansion in order to enhance country's material power. The chapter argues that the evidence of the political and socioeconomic situation in the South Caucasus disconfirms the explanatory power of regime theory since the current distribution of Russia's state power becomes too inconsistent with the rules of the Russian-led regimes in the region. It analyzes Russia's foreign policy in the South Caucasus taking into consideration the relative material power capabilities of Russia, the state structure and leaders' perceptions of relative material power forces and their freedom to extract and direct national resources as they wish.