Select a problem/issue, do research and write a thesis/dissertation on the issue/problem.The zGiven topic is :

The effectiveness of eu security policy in south caucasus

1. Give a clear view of security/insecurity in South Caucasus – For over two decades the SC region has been hit by the challenge of insecurity. Ethnic & boundary armed conflict, terrorism, smuggling of drugs, weapons and other goods, and illegal human trafficking are some of the faces insecurity has taken in the area.

a) The issue of insecurity in the region should be examined in the paper giving an overview of crime in the region, the frozen conflicts and give special attention to South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakgh.

2. Establish how South Caucasus rose at the EU Agenda. The issue of insecurity was of minor concern in the EU agendas initially but the trend has changed and the issue has become one of the top agendas off the EU among other from outside the EU boundaries.

a) This paper should interpret factors which have caused this change in the trend.

b) The thesis must also discuss the Security Policies and Programs of the EU in the South Caucasus region and the effectiveness of the implementation of these EU policies in South Caucasus.

3. Find out the EU and interest of other actors in the region. The South Caucasus region has attracted a number of major global and regional actors including the EU, Russia, USA, Turkey and Iran among others. The actors in the region have different and varying interests in South Caucasus influencing the dynamics of security in the region as each actor tries to achieve her interest or to maximize his presence or influence in the region’s security vacuum. The presence of many actors whether acting together or independently is likely to cause rivalry where the actors compete with each other, friction where the actors oppose each other or harmony acting together or in line with each other or complementing each other. The actions and the effects of one actor to the other actor(s) may be intentional or unintentional/just mere coincidence.

a) This paper must evaluate the interest of other actors and how they affect the EU Security Policies in South Caucasus or the implementation of the policies. An evaluation of Russia’s Interest in the region which a challenge to the EU, the US involvement in the region (cooperation with EU), and the involvement of Turkey and Iran in the region is also discussed in this thesis.