ABSTRACT
More than 20 years after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Russia remains the most influential outside power in the South Caucasus. This chapter examines why the region is important to Russia, what its interests are and how it has pursued its relations with the states of the region, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It explains how Russia has responded to the challenges posed by the activities of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union (EU). Russia's policy in the South Caucasus has not always been rational. Russia's interests in the region are shaped by security, economic and ideological factors. The most important issue has been to find ways of preventing oil and gas exports from Azerbaijan competing with and possibly crowding out Russian supplies of these resources in European markets. The model of integration on offer in the Eurasian Union and the Eurasian Economic Union was markedly different from that in the EU.
