Illusive Regional Cooperation: The Case of the South Caucasus

Regional cooperation is mainly defined by the correlation of political forces within a given region, the depth of existing contradictions between the main actors in that area, and the level of intervention by non-regional actors. One of the main conditions for the successful realization of cooperation is identifying threats and risks common for regional states and expressing readiness to jointly overcome existing problems for the sake of creating a favorable environment for cooperation. Since regaining their independence Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia not only have found themselves on different sides of the 'barricade,' but they also have focused on establishing relations with external actors. The interests of the latter, quite diverse, have made searches for an acceptable means of regional cooperation quite difficult. As a result the very concept of 'regional cooperation' due to objective and subjective circumstances continues to remain an illusion.