The Importance of The North Caucasus for The Black Sea’s Regional Security

Abstract

Since ancient times, the North Caucasus lands have been home to many ethnic cultures, societies, and states. Today it is a gateway, which opens Russia to the South Caucasus, Asia and the Middle East and a buffer zone and borderline, which prevents it from outside threats especially from the Southern border. The North Caucasus, also an important area, which acts as a hub between the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea. Yet these geopolitical characteristics are only one face of the North Caucasus, at the other face of the region shown us with multi-ethnic conflicts, unmanageable radical religious and nationalist movements, underdevelopment, and a gap between democratic and welfare life standards. As all of these situations show: The North Caucasus region of Russia is still a strategic region that preserves its importance today with its positive and negative characteristics. In the light of this information, the main aim of this thesis is to examine the importance of the sub-region of North Caucasus for the security of the Black Sea Region. It also attempts to answer the question "What is the importance of the North Caucasus for the Black Sea Region in the context of regional security?". The main sources referenced to obtain information consist of the examination and observations of primary sources and secondary sources such as articles, theoretical approaches, books and activities of decision-makers in both the Black Sea and the North Caucasus region and policy reports related to the region. Therefore, qualitative data collection techniques such as observation and document analysis are the basis of this thesis