Shireen T. Hunter has brought together a truly international team of experts to examine the complex geopolitics of the South Caucasus. The breadth and depth of analysis on key questions—such as state-building, democracy, and US–Russian rivalry—present the reader with a rich and textured account of the region. This volume is a tour de force on the interplay of global and regional dynamics which have made the geopolitics of the South Caucasus a continuing source of challenges and opportunities.

Shahram Akbarzadeh, Professor of Middle East and Central Asian Politics, Deakin University

Shireen T. Hunter, herself an expert in Caucasian and Central Asian affairs, has gathered an exceptional team of specialists on the local histories, recent experiences, and geopolitics affecting the three South Caucasian republics—Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Geography may be destiny, but surviving and thriving in an area contested for centuries by Iran, Russia, and Turkey requires both diplomatic and political skills as well as good luck. In essays written with deep local knowledge and exceptional clarity, leading specialists guide the reader through the intricacies and complexities of the region. If you want to understand the past, present, and the future of the South Caucasian peoples, this is the book with which to begin.

Ronald Grigor Suny, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan

This study puts today's volatile South Caucasus in its proper historical and geopolitical context. Readers new to the subject will become conversant with the main issues; old hands will find much to ponder and discuss. Shireen T. Hunter’s own unique perspective is especially valuable.

John Evans, former US ambassador to Armenia