The Changing Geopolitics in the South Caucasus During the War in Ukraine: Chances and Risks for the Region
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The Changing Geopolitics in the South Caucasus During the War in Ukraine: Chances and Risks for the Region
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Online First : pp. 1–24 | First published online: June 26, 2025
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Prof. Dr. Ralph Wrobel, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Applied Sciences Zwickau Scheffelstr. 39 08066 Zwickau,, Germany
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Abstract
Since February 2022 the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus changed dramatically. On the one hand, EU sanctions on Russia made the Middle Corridor of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative through the South Caucasus more attractive for China and Europe, on the other hand the protective power Russia is weakened by the war and the Western sanctions are leaving a vacuum of power in the South Caucasus. As a result, Azerbaijan was able to reconquer the region Nagorno-Karabakh. Therefore, the region is still not more an unassailable Russian backyard or sphere of interest but a place of a new great game of the main powers in the world.