State Failure in the South Caucasus: Proposals for an Analytical Framework

Abstract

The paper examines state failure in the South Caucasus. First, it determines a general system of 13 categories for analyzing the failure of states. Second, it applies these categories to the three internationally recognised South Caucasian states Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The main focus lies on the state monopoly on the use of force in the entire territory of a country. If the government does not fulfil this condition, it faces a lot of severe consequences for many spheres of state performance and societal activity. In the South Caucasus, only Armenia managed to maintain the state monopoly on the use of force. In contrast, the establishment of separatist state entities (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh) led to the de facto collapse of the Georgian and Azerbaijani statehood. Thus, Georgia and Azerbaijan may be considered as failed states also due to the fact that in the foreseeable future there is no apparent chance to restore their territorial integrity.