“The ‘New’ Geopolitics in the Caucasus and the EU’s Role”
AESC is the Caucasus’ only regional association of European Studies. Under its current Jean Monnet
grant, it will use its Fifth Annual Convention to go beyond the borders of the South Caucasus and
assess the impact of ‘old’ (Russia) and ‘new’ (Iran, Turkey) geopolitical actors, in particular
following the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This new geopolitical constellation is
complicated by developments in the Middle East, Taliban rule in Afghanistan and the interest of India
in developing a presence in the Caucasus. While geopolitical “chessboard” considerations often
presume a zero-sum game, we would like to explore possibilities for increased inter-regional
cooperation, the unblocking of transport corridors and a strengthened role for the EU.
The AESC Programme Committee will accept proposals for individual presentations from the angle
of European Studies including all relevant mother disciplines. Presentations should not be longer than
15 minutes. Please send an academic cv and a short abstract by 10 November 2021 by December 1st, 2021 to the Programme Committee at aesc@newvision.ge.
The Conference will be held in the time frame of 11:00 until 19:00 Tbilisi time at Ilia State University
and online via Zoom. It will feature, in particular, the launch of the new AESC volume “Experiencing
Europeanization in the Black Sea and South Caucasus”, based on the AESC Odessa Convention 2019
and the results of the AESC Yong Scholars’ Competition. It will be concluded by the General
Assembly of all AESC members.
All members of AESC as well as non-members are most warmly invited to attend!