South Caucasian politics of US and Russian Federation in the post Cold War era and Georgian crisis

The power struggle in the former Soviet territory between the Russian Federation which describes itself as the successor state of the USSR in the uni-polar world order emerged end of the Cold War and USA which has interest in the natural resources of the region is examined. The Georgian Crisis which is one of the results of power struggle between US and RF will be evaluated in the context of South Caucasian politicies of these two powers. It is possible to identify the crisis as an own domestic issue of Georgia, beside the power struggle between the US and the RF in the region. Saakashvili?s, the President of Georgia since ?Rose Revolution? of 2004, first political operation was to take Adjara, the South Ossetia and Abkhazia under the control of Tbilisi administration. After the collapse of the USSR and the end of the ?Cold War? Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia declared their independence in the South Caucasian Region. The South Caucasian, which has been seen as the ?hinterland? by RF, has been drawn the attention of the US due to its strategical location and rich natural resources. The US has changed its ?Russia First? policy that had been followed until 1997. After 1997 the US described the region as ?vital interest area?; changed the Russia First Policy and started keeping a close relationship with South Caucasian countries. Especially, the power struggle between the US and the RF has become more obvious when Saakashvili became the president of Georgia with the bloodless Rose Revolution. The RF?s response to the Rose Revolution was giving support for ethnic groups like South Ossetia and Abkhazia for independence led the process to a dispute between the RF and Georgia. In the first part of dissertation, the growing importance of the South Caucasian after the collapse of the USSR, countries in the region and their political and economical problems are discussed. In the second part, the political actions of the US and the RF in the post Cold War Era in the South Caucasian are examined. Lastly, the Georgia Crises is discussed in three periods as pre-crisis, the crisis period and the post-crisis period.Key Words: South Caucasian, USA, Russia, Georgia, South Ossetia