The Caucasus
The North Caucasus
The level of violence experienced in the North Caucasus region has reduced in recent years and the Russian Government has invested more heavily in the region, paying greater attention to dialogue with civil society for conflict prevention and development, especially in Ingushetia. However, despite visible and positive change on the socio-political front, persistent human security challenges affect the region’s stability and development. In the field of policing and justice provision, an emphasis on state and political security has overlooked the security needs of local communities, who in turn have little opportunity to voice their needs and grievances. International engagement in the region has largely been focussed on humanitarian assistance to date, but as this support has decreased donors have not been able to provide similar support to broader development assistance.
Saferworld led this analysis on issues of social difference, such as ethnicity, religion, generational difference and migration, and the challenges arising from these. It considers local perspectives on these challenges; how people seek to address them; and what they consider needs to be done to resolve them. The study encompassed the five Federal Republics in the North Caucasus: Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria.
South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
A stark reminder of the regional interdependency of issues of conflict, stability and security resonated around the South Caucasus and elsewhere when the Georgia-Russia war broke out in August 2008. While the war most evidently impacted on those living in South Ossetia and the surrounding areas, its effects were also felt across the wider region. This is especially the case in Armenia and Azerbaijan, where growing frustration over the gridlock in the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) peace process, particularly in Baku, has prompted concerns about the direction of the conflict. The 2008 war in Georgia also called into question the appropriateness and effectiveness of mechanisms for managing the impacts of the conflicts on those living in affected areas.
This project looks at the perspectives of those affected by the NK conflict – both those living in areas close to the Line of Contact (LOC) established after the 1994 ceasefire and those that have been displaced from them – on local needs and how they are being met. The project looks at the broader range of challenges faced by these people, both security-related and of a broader socio-economic nature. Concern amongst some actors about the overall situation in NK, and especially increased incidents along the LOC, make this study particularly timely.
Find out more about the People's Peacemaking Perspectives Project
