United States Support for Young Democracies and Deepening Cooperation with Georgia in addressing Security Issues in the Caucasus, 1996-2002

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, official Washington, developed its own interests in shaping the political course of relations with the Caucasus region. These interests can be summarized as follows: a) By strengthening the independence and democratic values ​​​​of the countries in the region, the Uni­ted States sought to weaken the influence of Russia in the Caucasus, while expanding its own; b) To maintain control over the Iran-Russia balance, since an unrestricted alliance between these two countries was viewed as highly dangerous for official Washington; c) To prevent Russia from unilaterally managing energy resources and to diversify the transit of energy resources of the Caspian region; To strengthen the extreme southwestern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance and turn the region into a springboard for its strategic actions.

European countries and the United States remained cautious in their relations with the Caucasus countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to various circumstances, the Baltic countries were initially the main priority. Nevertheless, it should also be noted that both the United States and the leading Western European nations supported the establishment and development of democratic values ​​and the market economy principles in all allied countries, that were part of the Soviet Union. Fiona Hill, a well-known American researcher and Special Assistant for European and Russian Affairs at the National Security Council under former US President Donald Trump, notes that during the administration of Bill Clinton, Washington's interests in the South Caucasus region became strategic and the energy sector became a field of interest for the United States – unlike in the early years of independence of the newly formed states. The deepening of strategic cooperation began, due to the changed geopolitical circumstances following the events of Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001.