Number: RL33453
Title: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests
Authors: Jim Nichol, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division 
Abstract: Key issues in the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress regarding the South Caucasus are likely to focus on supporting Georgia's integration into Western institutions, including NATO; Azerbaijan's energy development; and Armenia's independence and economic development. At the same time, concerns might include the status of human rights and democratization in the countries; the on-going Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region; and threats posed to Georgia by Russia's military actions in August 2008 and its diplomatic recognition of Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions. Congress will likely scrutinize Armenia's and Georgia's reform progress as recipients of Millennium Challenge Account grants. Some Members of Congress believe that the United States should provide greater attention to the region's increasing role as an east-west trade and security corridor linking the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, and to Armenia's inclusion in such links. They urge greater U.S. aid and conflict resolution efforts to contain warfare, crime, smuggling, and Islamic extremism and to bolster the independence of the states. Others urge caution in adopting policies that will heavily involve the United States in a region beset by ethnic and civil conflicts.
Pages: 45
Date: November 6, 2008