Great Powers and Their Regional Entanglements

Abstract

The previous chapter, focusing on state incoherence, already dealt with one non-regional level of RSCT. This opening of the ‘black box’ of domestic politics to the analytical scope of RSCT was both a possibility and a necessity; the presence of domestically stable, recognised units is one of the prerequisites for the emergence of security regimes and communities, and thus directly impinges upon the ultimate question of this volume: the possibility of the South Caucasus moving towards a more ‘amicable’ part of the amity/enmity spectrum. This chapter switches attention to the more conventional systemic (global) level of RSCT, and its interaction with variables at the regional level: more specifically, the effect of great power involvement or ‘great power penetration’ (GPP) on the security dynamic of RSCs.