MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF ORIENTAL STUDIES OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
On October 6, 2008, a scientific conference "Events in the Caucasus and the reaction of Asian countries" was held, organized by the Department of Complex Problems of International Relations of the Institute.
The conference was attended by researchers and teachers of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation. About 20 people made presentations. A wide range of issues related to the positions of Asian countries on the Russian-Georgian armed conflict in August 2008 were discussed.
A. M. Khazanov (IB RAS) in his report "Events in the Caucasus and the reaction of the outside world" said: "If we talk about the background of the current Caucasian tragedy, then two time bombs have historically been laid here." The first was when the so - called national-territorial separation was carried out in the 1920s and 1930s, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia became part of the Georgian SSR. The second is when, after the collapse of the USSR, Georgia and Azerbaijan were admitted to the UN in the form in which Stalin outlined them on the map in the 1920s and 1930s.
B. G. Koibayev (Vladikavkaz University named after K. Khetagurov) in his report "The South Caucasus between the West and the East: towards the history of the formation of a regional security system" showed the place and role of the South Caucasus in the strategic plans of non-regional players in the international arena. According to the speaker, there is a real danger of turning the South Caucasus zone into an arena of clash of strategic interests of the United States, Russia, Turkey, Iran and Western Europe. Having analyzed the "big game" that is being played around the South Caucasus, B. G. Koibayev made the following conclusion: "At present, Azerbaijan and especially Georgia have made their unequivocal choice, choosing the path to fully develop political and economic ties with the West. This position is sometimes contrasted with Armenia, ...
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