A Critical Study of Regional Security Complex Theory by Using the Security Environment of the South Caucasus

Abstract

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The end of Cold War opened a new chapter for security studies. Given the dramatic developments occurred in the international system, traditional approaches to study and analyze security dynamics including the definition, scope and analysis level of security were extensively reconsidered. The need for theoretical rethinking and appropriate explanation of the different dimensions of security in the new scene of international politics led to the emergence of different theoretical schools. Copenhagen School are among the schools which presents a wide and multi-dimensional definition of the concept of security and pays attention to regional level of analysis has found a prominent place in the scientific field of security studies during the past two decades. In the process, the theory of Regional Security Complex is one of the most important achievements of this school advanced by Barry Buzan, a famous figure of Copenhagen School, to explain security dynamics in the different parts of the world. Given the status, importance and claim of this theory in the better explanation of security developments in the post-cold war era. This article tries to test the basic principles of the theory of Regional Security Complex by using the security developments and dynamics of the South Caucasus as one of the most turbulent and challenging regions of the world during the past two decades. It aims at obtaining a better understanding of the complicated security developments in the south Caucasus while evaluating the abstract assumptions of this theory against the facts through the empirical critique of this theoretical approach. ;

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