According to William Zartman “Borders run across land but through people. On maps they appear
as fine one-dimensional lines, whereas on the ground they have many dimensions. Borders are
boundaries in depth, space around a line, place where state meets society” (Zartman 2010:16). It is
impossible to understand borders, without peripheral relations between the states and societies they
contain. Itself borders are zones in which people create special relationship with other people.
In this thesis, I plan to write about the case of a small minority group located on the periphery in
Georgia in order to understand how minorities find a place in an ethnically diverse and rapidly
changing society. Their responses to changing central policies and border conditions provide an
ideal opportunity to see how elements of the population not only respond to, but also actively
constitute, the conditions of a border regime and sovereignty.
Georgia is a state with a highly diverse population, and boundary conditions are everywhere in the
society. In addition, the country has complex borders with neighboring countries such as Russia,
where population groups are distributed across boundaries and have a long history of coping with
border conditions. Borderlands are “zones of varying widths, in which people have recognizable
configurations of relationships to people inside the zone, on both sides of the borderline but within
the cultural landscape of the borderlands, and, as people of the border, special relationships with
other people and institutions in their respective nation and state‟‟ (Donnan and Wilson 1994:8).
The post-independence period has been one of rapid change, which makes it possible to observe
the ways that sovereignty is formed in local contexts, and the role of elements of the population in
relations between the state and the population.
In case of the form of comparative analysis of the state border political changes, in this thesis I will
show socio-cultural and economic changes of ethnic minority in Georgia. I will show how borders
affect the groups living near them.

P.S.
First published
https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/8505/122858637.pdf?sequence=1

This book is a revised and enlarged version of my former book. It is mainly a social-economic history of the borderland regions of Kars, Ardahan  and Artvin under Russian rule from 1878 to 1918. Based on Ottoman, Russian, Georgian and Armenian archival sources, the study analyzes Russian administrative, political, demographic and economic policies in the region and their results during this period. After being on the periphery of Ottoman and Russian empires, these three provinces became part of modern Turkey. The book also includes an analysis of the impact of WWI on the region, especially on the civiian population. It sheds new light on the operations of the Ottoman Special Organization as well.

The evolution of Caspian Sea basin energy transmission networks is entering a crucial phase. Azerbaijan is the crucible where questions concerning the future structure of geo-economic relations in Eurasia (and also therefore crucial aspects of the general geopolitical structure of world politics) are today being resolved. Azerbaijan’s significance arises both from the volume of its natural energy resources and from its irreplaceable role as a bridge from Central Asia and the Caspian Sea basin to the Black Sea basin and Europe. Most recently, this significance has only been underlined by the implementation of a multi-vectored energy export strategy. Long-term and short-term historical perspectives put into relief the significance of the expanding geo-economic energy relations between Greater Central Asia and Greater Southwest Asia.

Bu çalışma, "Ardahan Kale ve Kuleleri" adlı kitabın bölümlerinden biridir. Bu kitap içi bölümde, Ardahan'ın Eskiçağ'dan Türk fetihlerine kadar tarihçesi üzerinde durulmuş ve şehrin isminin kökenine ilişkin bir başlığa yer verilmiştir.
  Son yıllarda yapılan bilimsel araştırmalarla birlikte Eskiçağ ve Ortaçağ arkeolojik vaziyetinin Transkafkasya (Güney Kafkasya) arkeolojisiyle
oldukça örtüştüğü anlaşılan Ardahan, Doğu Karadeniz ve Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Bölgeleri ile Transkafkasya’yı birleştiren stratejik bir coğrafi konuma sahiptir. Batıda Karadeniz sahil şeridinin son ili Artvin ile
komşu olan Ardahan’ın güneyinde Erzurum ve Kars illeri, kuzeydoğusunda Gürcistan ve doğusunda Ermenistan yer alır. Transkafkasya ülkelerinde, özellikle Tunç ve Demir Çağları kültürlerine ilişkin hatırı sayılır araştırma ve arkeolojik kazı yapılmışsa da bu bölgenin komşusu olan Kuzeydoğu Anadolu için aynı değerlendirmeyi ne yazık ki yapamamaktayız. Özellikle Ardahan ili, Anadolu coğrafyasında arkeolojik araştırmaların en az yürütüldüğü yerlerden biri olmuştur. Bu nedenle şehrin tarihi ve arkeolojik geçmişi üzerine toplanan veriler, akademik anlamda tatmin edici bir düzeye erişememiştir. Yine de inanıyoruz ki, 2008 yılında kurulan Ardahan Üniversitesinin bünyesinde gerçekleştirilmekte olan ve yakın gelecekte daha da kapsamlı bir şekilde sürdürülecek bilimsel çalışmalar, şehrin tarihi, sanat tarihi ve arkeolojik
dokusunu çok daha detaylı bir şekilde yansıtacaktır.

Georgia, a small state in the South Caucasus, is the most ardent supporter of Euro-Atlantic integration in the entire post-Soviet region. Georgia’s possible membership in NATO looms large not only in terms of politics in the South Caucasus but increasingly in the tense relations between Russia and the West. In July 2018, NATO extended an official invitation to Macedonia, thereby processing its eighth enlargement. Zooming in on Georgia and Macedonia’s performance on membership requirements is a one-of-a-kind litmus test of perspectives of Georgia’s membership in NATO. The comparative analysis unveils that Georgia has outperformed Macedonia in all key areas of reforms and that NATO still pays more attention to geopolitical aspects of membership, rather compatibility with the Alliance’s requirements.

В развитых странах в процессе вынесения решений в государственной и общественной сферах важную роль играют так называемые «мозговые центры» (Think Tanks, далее -МЦ). Национальная безопасность более чем когда-либо обусловлена умением организовать и использовать существующие интеллектуальные ресурсы в соответствии с национальными интересами, и МЦ 2 занимают в этом особое место. Без развитого независимого экспертного сообщества современные государства не могут противостоять стоящим перед ними внутренним и внешним вызовам. Если на Западе МЦ -давно состоявшиеся институты, то в постсоветских государствах они или аналогичные по своим функциям центры только-только формируются и пытаются внедриться в процесс «вынесения решений».

The article is devoted to the analysis of the ethno-social and legal aspects of language policy in the Caucasus during the imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The information characterizing the specifics of language processes in the Caucasus is given. It is noted that the political and legal response to problems arising in the national-cultural sphere does not always correspond to the complexity and socio-political tension of the ethnocultural and linguistic processes taking place in the region. The importance of studying and using the historical experience
of national language policy to address the current, due to modern trends in the dynamics of ethnic language processes in the regions of the Caucasus is emphasized.

Richard Cashman, "The Turkish Key to Greater Central Asia", A New Middle East and the Frontiers of a New Geostrategic Imagination, Caucasus International, Vol. 3 • No: 1-2 • Spring - Summer 2013, http://cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-3-no-1-2-spring-summer-2013

From Tsarist period to the present day Russia try to keep under its control both internal and foreign policy of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia with the implementation of active agenda in the South Caucasus region. After the Soviet Union collapsed, in order to manage the former post-soviet area (excluding Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) Russia was trying to get back the region’s agenda to his administration via creating a new geopolitical means.

Up to the lat e 1990s, discourse around mass emigration from Azerbaijan had to do, above all, with mass post-Soviet labour migration. During the last two decades (1990-2009) 266,000 arrived in the country as permanent migrants and 707,500 departed from Azerbaijan according to official statistics. According to official statistics the balance of migration was negative for Azerbaijan (though never massively negative) almost every year. But in the last two years more people arrived in the country than left it. On the grounds of these figures the authorities announced that Azerbaijan has become attractive for immigrants. President Ilham Aliyev’s stated: “The number of foreigners intending to visit the Republic of Azerbaijan will increase while Azerbaijan is developing. This can be considered a positive factor for our country. However, we must prefer the interests of our state, people, citizens and this must be the priority for our migration policy” on the home page of the Internet Site o...

The Azerbaijani military portal Azerideffence.com recently published information about Baku acquiring French ASTER 30-SAMP/T and VL MICA air-defense missile systems. A representative of the company producing these missile systems—MBDA—confirmed the information. Several days later, the Russian newspaper Kommersant informed that Moscow had refused to sell Baku the Bal-E coastal missile system despite Azerbaijan’s huge interest in purchasing it.

The opposition Georgian Dream coalition's upset victory in Georgia's October 2012 parliamentary elections displaced the then-ruling United National Movement as well as the "competitive authoritarian" model it had instituted. While the future of Georgian democracy remains an open question, the elections may offer transferable lessons for democracy promotion in other competitive authoritarian systems. In particular, Georgian Dream was able to successfully use leadership, messaging, and international engagement to pose the first meaningful challenge to the ruling party since the 2003 Rose Revolution. Georgia's recent experience also highlights the need for better-tailored policies to address the hybrid nature of the competitive authoritarian model.

Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Society for Community Research and Action. This eoffprint is for personal use only and shall not be self-archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Wisdom-Lies-Georgian-Discover/dp/9941961670/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1546537186&sr=8-7&keywords=book+of+wisdom+and+lies

The presented edition of Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani's "Book of Wisdom and Lies" is a reprint of Sir Oliver Wardrop's translation that he published in 1894. The publisher was William Morris at the Jelmscott Press, in the County of Middlesex.The idea of republishing of this book was born, because it was Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani's 360th anniversary in 2018 and Georgia dedicated this year to his commemoration. There were made several editions in Georgian, including illustrated edition, by Nino Gambashidze, together with Academic Book Publishing (acad.ge). The international community expressed their interest to get familiar to this author, and in particular with this text. To meet this interest we decided to publish this translation with minor corrections, such as: 1. changing 2nd person singular (thou) into 2nd person plural (you); 2. changing symbol & with conjunction "and"; 3. making more paragraphs, then they were done in existing publication, e.g. distinguishing dialogues.On edition of the text worked Maya Gambashidze and Nino Gambashidze, and the students of Guivi Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi: Sopo Kevlishvili, Ana Zamtaradze, Ana Kostava and Giorgi Iashvil.About the design of the book worked Giorgi Kakabadze, who tried to bring the visual side of the text closer to modern reader

El recrudecimiento del conflicto que enfrenta a Armenia con Azerbaiyán por el control de Nagorno Karabaj se expresa en un espacio simbólico de Ciudad de México. Esta tensión por el uso del espacio se ha manifestado en acciones polémicas, como la instalación de monumentos que afectaron las relaciones de México con dichos países del Cáucaso. Por su parte, Georgia adoptó un enfoque cultural más sobrio que ha rendido frutos.

Zviad Koridze, "Georgian Media and Georgian Facebook", Social Media in Politics and Foreign Policy: Can it Transform Eurasia?, Caucasus International, Vol. 1 • No: 2 • Autumn 2011, http://www.cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-1-no-2-autumn-2011

man eine Reise in ein neues, unbekanntes Land antritt, versucht man, sich in Gedanken ein möglichst realistisches Bild von dem was einen erwartet, auszumalen. Dabei wird dieses Puzzlebild umso vollständiger und schärfer, je reicher die Informationen über das Unbekannte sind. Andernfalls muss die Phantasie ihren Anteil beisteuern und versuchen, die fehlenden Teile zu ergänzen. Dies gilt insbesondere für einen jungen Staat wie Aserbaidschan, dessen exotischer Name nicht einmal aus dem Erdkundeunterricht einen Widerhall in unseren Ohren erzeugt. Der engste Verknüpfungspunkt zu diesem Land und seiner Kultur bestand für mich in der mir nicht fremden aserbaidschanischen Sprache, deren Klang mir seit meiner Kindheit durch die Musik sehr vertraut ist. So rückte mir dieses "fremde" Land in meiner Vorstellungswelt einen großen Schritt näher. Die sonstigen Kenntnisse über Aserbaidschan reichten nicht sehr tief und kreisten um ein paar aus der Presse allgemein bekannte Schlüsselbegriffe wie Turkvolk, schiitischer Islam, Ex-Sowjetunion und Berg Karabakh.

"Если какой-либо компании удастся занять доминирующее положение в нефтяном бизнесе Курдского района Ирака (КРИ), то в долгосрочной перспективе она сможет получить доступ и к нефти, как случилось в Каспийском регионе в 1990-х годах, когда нефтепровод Баку – Тбилиси – Джейхан подготовил почву для Южно-Каспийского и Транс-Анатолийского газопроводов (TANAP). Подобные перспективы представляются реальными для КРИ и работающих в этом регионе компаний. Доказанные запасы газа КРИ оцениваются в 2,8-5,7 трлн м3, почти вчетверо превышая запасы Азербайджана. В ближайшем будущем для проектов Южного энергетического коридора резервы природного газа Курдского района Ирака могут стать фактором, который, в долгосрочной перспективе, изменит правила игры.
В настоящее время шельфовые газовые месторождения Азербайджана все еще остаются единственным источником ресурса для Южного энергетического коридора. Газопровод, проложенный из КРИ в Турцию, мог бы создать конкуренцию между газом из Курдистана и Азербайджана на европейском и турецком рынках. Поскольку компания ВР Azerbaijan руководит консорциумом («Азербайджанская международная операционная компания», АМОК), разрабатывающим блок нефтяных месторождений Азери – Чираг – Гюнешли, то компания, которая будет осуществлять транспортировку газа из КРИ в Турцию, в конечном счете, окажется конкурентом ВР на мировом рынке.

- See more at: http://www.oilandgaseurasia.ru/news/запасы-природного-газа-курдистана-могут-изменить-правила-игры-в-регионе#sthash.0U4W60ML.dpuf"

Fariz Ismailzade, "Overcoming threats to stability in Azerbaijan", The Caucasus in the International Arena: Regional & Global Perspectives, Caucasus International, Vol. 1 • No: 1 • Summer 2011, http://cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-1-no-1-summer-2011

Komeli Kakachia, "Shifting gears: Georgia’s Persian gambit and the logic of regional geopolitics", The Caucasus and its Neighbors: Towards the Future, Caucasus International, Vol. 2 • No: 1 • Spring 2012, http://cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-2-no-1-spring-2012

The contemporary region of South Caucasus represents by itself a specific geopolitical system, differing from other modern regional systems by its typical politically asymmetrical structure. The region is influenced by diverse impacts from the South, while simultaneously deepening and expanding its ties with West aimed to institutional integration within Euro-Atlantic community frameworks/organizations. At same time, its' essentially open to the North; the fact exposing the region's multifaceted and structural interdependency relationships with Russia. As century before, The South Caucasus, while being on the periphery of European continent continues to be at the crucial crossroad of global and regional interests that traditionally intersect within this tiny land-bridge connecting Europe and Asia 1 .

Bu çalışma, Rusya'nın Güney Kafkasya ile ilgili hedeflerini sağlama çerçevesinde bir uluslar arası hukuk kurumu olan UCM 2 'yi nasıl kullanmak istediğini incelemektedir. Bu çerçevede self-determinasyon ile ilgili mevcut uluslararası hukuk kurallarını temel alarak Güney Osetya'nın Gürcistan'dan ayrılmasının mümkün olmadığı açıklanmakta ve ancak Kosova örneği takip edilerek bağımsızlık ya da ilhakın gerçekleştirilebileceği gösterilmektedir.

Ямсков А.Н. Изменение топонимии Закавказья в XX – XXI вв. // Топонимия Ближнего Зарубежья: 100 лет переименований. Атлас-справочник / Отв. ред. В.Н. Калуцков. – М.: РГО, 2020, с. 83-152
Полный текст этой коллективной монографии в открытом доступе:  https://gumgeo.ru/public/files/pomnili/Atlas.pdf

Сегодня Всехсвятский храм возле метро Сокол является одним из самых доходных в Москве. При это о том, что в XVIII-XIX вв. он служил усыпальницей грузинской аристократии, ныне почти не помнят из-за неоднократных изменений его интерьера и произошедшего в 1981-м сноса прилегающего погоста. Анализ сохранившихся описаний и характеристики нескольких уцелевших надгробий позволяют составить – пускай дискретное – представление о том, каким был облик некрополя внутри храма и возле его стен. Данные же из метрических записей дают дополнительную информацию о социальном составе погребённых, а систематизация эпитафий позволяет понять, каким было их функциональное предназначение.
Nowadays the church of All Saints near subway station Sokol is one of if not the most profitable in Moscow. Due to the numerous changes of its interior and the demolition (partly removal) of the churchyard in 1981, the fact that this church located in XVIII-XIX centuries in the namesake village of Moscow county, had been also the necropolis for Georgian nobility, was deleted from the public memory. An analyze of archival descriptions and features of a very few remained tombstones enables to create – even discretely – the perception of how the cemetery looked like inside the church and around its walls. The data from the metric books of the parish provides us with an additional information about social accessory of the buried people, while the systematization of epitaphs shows its functional purpose.

La stratégie des États-Unis au sud du Caucase Par Julien Zarifian. Pour ce chercheur à l'Institut français de géopolitique (Paris-VIII), une réflexion sur la crise en Géorgie ne peut pas faire l'impasse sur la politique américaine (et ses investissements financiers) dans cette région du monde.

Najiba Mustafayeva, "The UN Security Council and the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict", 25 Years of Independence in the South Caucasus, Caucasus International, Vol. 7 • No: 1 • Summer 2017, http://cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-7-o-no-1-o-summer-2017

Gulmira Rzayeva," A complicated Corridor: Gas to Europe - It's not just economics", The Caspian Energy Dance: Towards a New Age of Partnership?, Caucasus International, Vol. 2 • No: 2 • Summer 2012, http://cijournal.az/post/caucasus-international-vol-2-no-2-summer-2012

Бери Эгнаташвили, Ахали Картлис Цховреба (Новая История Грузии), перевов текста с древнегрузинского на современный грузинский язык и коментарии Георгия Маджарашвили, издательство «Новый Ивирон», Тбилиси, 2012."

ბერი ეგნატაშვილი, ახალი ქართლის ცხოვრება - ტექსტი ძველი ქართულიდან ახალ ქართულზე გადმოიტანა და კომენტარები დაურთო გიორგი მაჭარაშვილმა