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XINHUA: NEW GREAT GAME IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
AZG DAILY
22-12-2010
News.am posts the article "More players and more pieces in the New
Great Game" by Gaochao Yi published on Xinhua news agency.
"Though it started long ago, the game is still on. There are only
more players with more pieces moving and moved on a bigger board,
all for a newer rendition of the Great Game.
"Whichever way people prefer to describe the game - geostrategy or
geopolitics - there has been a center-piece: interest in a geography
that is important to world powers, past and present; that is, in
whatever way these powers deem it as important."
"If the Caspian Sea can be taken as a dividing line, the west wing
of the playing board has been more active in this past year than its
eastern counterpart.
Natural resources, capital and routes linking up to the world's
existing and emerging markets for exports and politically tagged
investments, not to mention militarily strategic outlets, are such
interests in the South Caucasus which to the east links up with the
Caspian Sea oil and natural gas riches and to the west links up with
the Black Sea commercial and military pathways," the source reports."
"Sitting at one end of the board is the same old player, known as the
Russian Empire, while at the other end now is an alliance orchestrated
not any more by the British Empire but rather by the Americans and
the military coalition they dominate, known as NATO.
However, the past year was somehow quiet in the South Caucasus thanks
to reassessing and regrouping after the 2008 Georgia-Russia conflict
and to a foot-dragging recovery from the 2008-2009 financial and
economic difficulties," the website reads.
"Either as individual states or as component parts of the South
Caucasus, the three countries of the region strived in the past year
to play themselves instead of being played upon by others. And they
all had their moves to make to play some part in the game.
For Georgia, claiming sovereignty over Abkhazia and South Ossetia
and dealing with neighboring Russia has put the country under
the spotlight from time to time, be it sideline talks concerning
Russian accession to the WTO or direct talks in the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit or its aspirations
for affiliation with NATO," the author says.
"For Azerbaijan, reaffirming UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR)
definitions over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh while trying to strike
a balance over oil and natural gas exports between the old route
through Russia and the new route via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
has drawn some international attention, and the Azerbaijanis have even
warned of resorting to force to regain control over Nagorno-Karabakh,"
the source says.
"For Armenia, internationalizing the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by raising
Kosovo deja vu and by warning it will recognize the self-proclaimed
republic has plucked a string or two on the international chord. The
country also has a side-front of its own with neighboring Turkey,
from which it has been demanding a public apology and hopefully
compensation for the 1910 massacre of Armenians.
Russia, the former Big Brother to the South Caucasus trio, is in a
deadlock with Georgia but has been maneuvering carefully to maintain
the balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia," the author stresses.
"Though the local players were assessing and reassessing the cons
and pros, the losses and gains of the August 2008 conflict and the
financial and economic crises, other players from outside the region
have not rested in 2010. They also made moves on the board.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton visited in tandem all three South Caucasus countries
before NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited and opened
an alliance liaison office in Tbilisi, to reassure they care about
and support the region.
NATO later invited the presidents of the three South Caucasus
countries to its Lisbon summit, which further reassured the trio
about the alliance's backup," the author emphasizes.
From: A. Papazian
AZG DAILY
22-12-2010
News.am posts the article "More players and more pieces in the New
Great Game" by Gaochao Yi published on Xinhua news agency.
"Though it started long ago, the game is still on. There are only
more players with more pieces moving and moved on a bigger board,
all for a newer rendition of the Great Game.
"Whichever way people prefer to describe the game - geostrategy or
geopolitics - there has been a center-piece: interest in a geography
that is important to world powers, past and present; that is, in
whatever way these powers deem it as important."
"If the Caspian Sea can be taken as a dividing line, the west wing
of the playing board has been more active in this past year than its
eastern counterpart.
Natural resources, capital and routes linking up to the world's
existing and emerging markets for exports and politically tagged
investments, not to mention militarily strategic outlets, are such
interests in the South Caucasus which to the east links up with the
Caspian Sea oil and natural gas riches and to the west links up with
the Black Sea commercial and military pathways," the source reports."
"Sitting at one end of the board is the same old player, known as the
Russian Empire, while at the other end now is an alliance orchestrated
not any more by the British Empire but rather by the Americans and
the military coalition they dominate, known as NATO.
However, the past year was somehow quiet in the South Caucasus thanks
to reassessing and regrouping after the 2008 Georgia-Russia conflict
and to a foot-dragging recovery from the 2008-2009 financial and
economic difficulties," the website reads.
"Either as individual states or as component parts of the South
Caucasus, the three countries of the region strived in the past year
to play themselves instead of being played upon by others. And they
all had their moves to make to play some part in the game.
For Georgia, claiming sovereignty over Abkhazia and South Ossetia
and dealing with neighboring Russia has put the country under
the spotlight from time to time, be it sideline talks concerning
Russian accession to the WTO or direct talks in the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit or its aspirations
for affiliation with NATO," the author says.
"For Azerbaijan, reaffirming UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR)
definitions over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh while trying to strike
a balance over oil and natural gas exports between the old route
through Russia and the new route via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
has drawn some international attention, and the Azerbaijanis have even
warned of resorting to force to regain control over Nagorno-Karabakh,"
the source says.
"For Armenia, internationalizing the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by raising
Kosovo deja vu and by warning it will recognize the self-proclaimed
republic has plucked a string or two on the international chord. The
country also has a side-front of its own with neighboring Turkey,
from which it has been demanding a public apology and hopefully
compensation for the 1910 massacre of Armenians.
Russia, the former Big Brother to the South Caucasus trio, is in a
deadlock with Georgia but has been maneuvering carefully to maintain
the balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia," the author stresses.
"Though the local players were assessing and reassessing the cons
and pros, the losses and gains of the August 2008 conflict and the
financial and economic crises, other players from outside the region
have not rested in 2010. They also made moves on the board.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton visited in tandem all three South Caucasus countries
before NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited and opened
an alliance liaison office in Tbilisi, to reassure they care about
and support the region.
NATO later invited the presidents of the three South Caucasus
countries to its Lisbon summit, which further reassured the trio
about the alliance's backup," the author emphasizes.
From: A. Papazian