Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the “Triadic Nexus”: Ethnic Kin States as a Stabilizing Force?

by Professor Kyle Estes, Assistant Professor, Bradley University, and ARISC Junior Research Fellowship awardee.

Key words: Ethnic politics; distributive politics; public goods; Georgia; Azerbaijan; Kvemo Kartli

Module description: This module enables students to explore what and who determines access to public goods and services in the multiethnic regions of Georgia where the ethnic Georgian majority group makes up over 80% of the national population. Students will learn about the ethnically diverse Kvemo Kartli region in Georgia’s southeastern border region with Azerbaijan and Armenia, contextualized within Soviet and post-Soviet history. Matters of ethnic kin state politics are defined and examined illuminating the connections between (in this case) ethnic Azerbaijanis in Georgia, and the two states, Georgia and Azerbaijan. At its core, the module offers a critical assessment of the role of ethnic affinity in explaining the political dynamics and strategic relationships.

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