Center for International Studies

  The South Caucasus Regional Security Scenarios Development   By Professor Vakhtang Maisaia   Historically, the South Caucasus has been playing a significant role for establishing and developing the economic relations between Europe and Asia. After the trilateral agreement amongst Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, which led to a complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities on November 10 th of 2020, new geo-economic opportunities have been established in the South Caucasus region. Thanks to the trilateral agreement, the normalization of the relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia and the potential for economic cooperation has emerged in the region. Hence, developments throughout the past two years show that there is a mutual interest in all South Caucasus countries for further establishing and expanding the trade and economic cooperation across border lines through establishing new opportunities. Therefore, it is suggested to promote the regional socioeconom

  The price of status - what economic and political benefits will the EU candidate country status of Georgia bring? Nika Chitadze  Professor of the International Black Sea University Director of the Center for International Studies President of the George C. Marshall Alumni Union, Georgia - International and Security Research Center  The decision of the European Council regarding granting Georgia the status of a candidate for EU membership will significantly contribute to the process of Georgia's integration into European structures. In this case, it should be noted that the following factors should be noted as to the benefits of the EU candidate country status.   Countries with candidate status (in the case of potential candidate status, the scope is limited) have access to the funds of the pre-accession financial instrument (IPA III-2021-2027), which includes 14 billion euros and 5 thematic areas:   - Institutional and administrative - Capacity building (candidate and p