Pride of Small Nations: The Caucasus and Post-Soviet Disorder

The Caucasus is the mountainous region between Europe and Asia, Islam and Christianity, Turk and Slav. The break-up of the Soviet Union has given way to ethnic hatred, internecine warfare and political instability region. This book provides an introduction to each of the new republics - Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - as well as to the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and the micro-states of the North Caucasus, which lie uneasily within the Russian Republic. Against the background of current geopolitical rivalries and historical enmities, the author explores the issues - including the fragility of democratic institutions; the competition between the old communist apparatchiks and the new nationalist demagogues; the Ossetian, Abkhazian and Chechen secessions; ecological damage and economic disintegration; and the importance of ethnic and Islamic consciousness.