Comparative Studies on the Democratization Processes in the South Caucasus

南高加索是一个动荡、研究不足但有趣的地区，由于里海的潜在石油储量，它对世界其他地区也是一个非常重要的地区。这项研究考察了这一地区的民主化进程，包括基亚米尼亚和阿塞拜疆，以及共产主义政权的倒台。它批判性地分析了现有的国际关系理论和比较民主化的政治学。首先，虽然现有研究假设国际社会在南高加索地区倡导和执行民主化政策，但这项研究表明，国际社会并没有始终如一地奉行民主化政策。第二，现有研究没有充分分析国际社会建议的政策在国内的执行情况。另一方面，这项研究表明，强硬派和腐败分子在国内的反对经常扭曲了国际社会倡导的政策的执行进度。

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.