Comparative Studies on the Democratization Processes in the South Caucasus

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The South Caucasus is a volatile, understudied, yet interesting region It is also a veiy important area for the rest of the world, due to the potential oil reserves of the Caspian Sea. This study investigates the prncesses of democratization in this region, induding Geoi~ Amienia, and Azerbaijan, sinoe the xillapse of the communist regimes. It critically analyzes the existing theories of international relations and compamlive politics on democratizationThe study has demonstrated the following points. First, while the existing studies assume that the international community advocates and implements the policies of democratization upon the South Caucasus, this study shows that the international community has not consistently pursued the policies of democratizationSecond, the existing study does not fully analyze the domestic pmoesses of implementation of the policies recommended by the international community. On the other hand, this study shows that both the domestic oppositions of the hard-liners and the corruption have often distorted the pmoess of implementing the policies advocated by the international community.