ABSTRACT
The chapter assesses the second critical context condition for engagement without recognition: room for engagement. This room for engagement is defined by the strategies and measures towards international engagement employed by the de facto state, the metropolitan state, and the patron state. The analysis illustrates how approaches towards international engagement, including from the EU, changed within Abkhazia and became more restrictive. In contrast, Georgia expanded its isolation policies with the approach of channelled engagement but with largely disillusioning results. Russia’s policy has undergone a remarkable transformation. Since the establishment of the de facto state, Moscow has changed its approach from isolation to engagement, recognition, and finally partial integration. The chapter reveals that the room for engagement in which the EU can operate has changed considerably in recent years. This demonstrates that engagement without recognition does not take place in a vacuum but is very much dependent on the strategies and policies of the central actors. They shape the room for engagement, which is dynamic and has become narrower lately, especially in the South Caucasus.
