Nowhere else was the collapse of the Soviet state felt as bitterly as in the Caucasus. Series of wars have left thousands dead and resulted in several million refugees and internally displaced people. Transportation routes were blocked and economies left in ruins. Nevertheless, positive trends have been recorded in the last years – apart from Chechnya. Cease-fires stopped the military operations and were followed by a timid dialogue process between the former antagonists. Already members of OSCE and the Council of Europe, the three South Caucasian states, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, have declared membership in EU as their strategic aim.
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In spite of ten years of independence, the three South Caucasian republics have not yet completed their state-building process, nor has the civil society reached its maturity. The cultural and educational potential of those societies is not at all exhausted because of institutional weaknesses. Major parts of the population lack identification with the new states: they do not perceive themselves as citizens, nor do they have a full understanding of their new status. The media, although enjoying a large margin of liberty compared to the past decade, are fragmented and lack resources.
CIMERA currently works on media development and citizenship issues. Through professional collaboration, we bring together journalists, media experts and academics from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and Western Europe. We believe that regional cooperation is the key for stability and prosperity in the Caucasus.
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Projects
 Caucasus
Media Institute
Caucasus
Media Project
Research
Citizenship
in the Caucasus
Downtown Yerevan |
Read more about the region
 The
Russian Military in the Second Chechen War: Revenge of the Army or a Putsch
in the Making?
Vicken Cheterian, in: Labour Focus on Eastern Europe, 64, 1999
Succession
ouverte en Azerbaïdjan
Vicken Cheterian in: Le Monde Diplomatique, October 1999
Ethnic
conflict in Georgia
Vicken Cheterian in: Le Monde Diplomatique, December 1998
Jostling
for oil in Transcaucasia
Vicken Cheterian in: Le Monde Diplomatique, October 1997
Georgia's
Balancing Act
Vicken Cheterian in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, September 1997
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