Recognising politics in unrecognised states: 20 years of enquiry into the de facto states of the South Caucasus

Abstract

De facto states in the South Caucasus have presented a range of theoretical and empirical challenges for both scholars and policy-makers for some 20 years. This article charts the trajectories of different concepts, theories and paradigms deployed over this period to understand de facto states in this region, and in particular their internal dynamics. It is argued that while external factors are central to the sustainability of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorny Karabakh, scholarship on these entities has increasingly over time asserted the relevance of their internal politics. The article discusses how over the last decade this analysis has increasingly conflicted with the revival of the region’s central state authorities, whose conceptual reading and policy repertoires vis-à-vis de facto states remain focused on their external support structures. The article finishes by discussing some of the implications of this disjunction for policies enacted towards to de facto states of the region by both central state authorities and the international community.