“Moral Power” of the EU through its Democracy Promotion Policy in the South Caucasus

Abstract

While  Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have been countries in transition, this chapter analyzes the policy of the EU and its member states as fervent actors establishing political dialogue and promoting democracy. The former has been ensured through diplomatic visits, the latter—via both the Union’s and member states’ institutional channels both as a first-order, e.g., as a means to conflict resolution, and second-order objective, i.e., achieved through education. With the assigned scores and indicators allowing to qualify the South Caucasian states as hybrid regimes , this chapter scrutinizes the substance and procedures of EU’s democracy promotion. The Union fares as an “actual” “power” on the moral parameter of  inclusiveness, “largely actual” on consequentialism and external legitimacy, “partly actual” qua coherence, and “potential” as regards  consistency, balance between values and interests, and normative steadiness.