TRANSCAUCASIA:
THE GORDIAN KNOT IN THE WIDER BLACK SEA REGION¹

Eng. Marius ROŞU, PhD

Abstract. After the end of the Cold War and the evanescence of the Soviet Union, there appeared in Transcaucasia three distinct geopolitical entities: Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Following armed conflicts with the governments of states whose borders are recognized and stated by the UN Organization, the secessionists (with Moscow’s support) managed to maintain political and administrative control of the separatist regions, thus becoming enclave states. All these secessionist regions are not recognized as sovereign states by the United Nations, and the enclaves remained politically, military and economically, overwhelmingly dependent on the Russian Federation. The existence of secessionist entities led to the gradual erosion of the states from which they were detached. These processes have led to a high degree of instability in the Black Sea Region.

Key words: enclave states, frozen conflicts, Russian Federation, secession, Wider Black Sea Region