Lasariya A.O. On the role of Russian Federation in regulating the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992-2008

Abstract: The author's scientific attention is focused on the ethnic-political conflicts in the Caucasus region, largely influenced by the thin borders lying between cultural, mental and religious self-identities of ethnic groups. The author views such factors as the disintegration of the Communist regime that became the main catalyst in the aggravation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict which resulted in open warfare. The failure of the consolidationist ideology of communism defined the necessity for choosing a new identity for various ethnic groups. The optimal choice for ethnic elites was the reconnection and restoration of historical roots - in other words, their national past. In the particular case the realization of the right for independence and territorial wholeness of Georgia has collided with the right of the Abkhaz people for self-determination. The aggravation of the conflict has defined the necessity for mediation in order to regulate this politico-ethnic conflict. The subject of this study is Russia's work as mediator in dousing the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992-2008. The object of the study is the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. The methodological basis of the study is the systemic, comparative-political science approach, content-analysis of documents, general scientific methods, etc. The article analyzes the practical aspects of the process of mediating the Georgian-Abkhaz ethnic-political conflict, and Russia's role as mediator from 1990s throughout 2000s that defined the further prospects of the development of Georgian-Abkhaz relations, as well as the establishment of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent international subjects, along with the regional security of North Caucasus. The scientific novelty of this work is the exploration of a previously-understudied and under-analyzed role of mediators in the regulation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.  

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