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Washington hosts conference on â€œThe South Caucasus 20 Years After Independenceâ€

29 November 2011 07:49 (UTC +04:00)

The Carnegie Endowment hosted the event that tries to examine the lessons learned from twenty years of independence and state-building in all South Caucasus countries and discuss the best paths of future development in the region.

â€œTwenty years after the end of the Soviet Union, the South Caucasus countries can no longer be considered â€œin transition.â€ Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia have built functioning sovereign states.

But questions remain about how well they are faring compared to the democratic countries of the European Union or the rising economies of Asiaâ€, said moderator Thomas de Waal from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He adds, the three bitter and still unresolved conflicts - Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh cast a long shadow. But it would be a mistake to say that conflict defines how people in the region see themselves. â€œState-building has continued despite them and opinion polls suggest most people are more preoccupied with economic issues than the conflictsâ€, he added.

In the meanwhile, most of the participants at the conference agreed that, the frozen conflicts are the main problems against the regional cooperation.

Speaking about Azerbaijan, Elnur Soltanov, from Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, mentioned that despite all of the handicaps, and especially war with Armenia, Azerbaijani Government managed to create its balanced foreign policy and economic stability and move forward with it.

The conference will continue on November 29.