The External Powers’ Energy Security Interplay in the South Caucasus Subcomplex: Identifying the EU’s impact on the Securitisation Choices of the Regional States

The general power interplay over the Caspian energy resources and the strategic export pipelines traversing through the South Caucasus have a crucial impact on the complex security framework of the region. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the three Caucasian states-Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia-emerged at the crossroads of strategic energy supply routes, making the region increasingly important for global as well as regional actors. This role has been particularly enhanced with the construction of new energy export pipelines, particularly the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, that connect landlocked Azerbaijani energy resources with international markets. These pipelines altered the status quo of power relations in the region. They marked the end of Russia’s monopolistic control over the energy transportation routes from the Caspian region and helped both Azerbaijan and Georgia to become relevant regional actors. Currently, the security dynamics within the South Caucasian regional subcomplex pinpoints towards a combination of developments that represent the power interplay of competing interests and cooperation opportunities between different global and regional actors. In this multifaceted scenario of wide external involvement the European Union is transcending as an important policy maker and an emerging key security actor in the South Caucasian regional milieu. With the growing EU concern of diversified energy supplies and alternative routes, Caspian energy resources and the South Caucasus unique geostrategic location, assume special significance. While the issue of energy supply security gives the EU a stake in regional security structures, the EU seeks for a substantial role in fostering stability and an enhanced cooperation in the regional setting. The research raises the question of how do the EU’s energy security policies and economic concerns affect on the securitization choices of the South Caucasian states. The article endeavors to analyze the interplay of external powers’ energy security interests in the South Caucasus subomplex, particularly the main trends of the European Union’s engagement in the region and its impact on the securitized issues of the region; and how the regional security subcomplex may subsequently unfold in terms of its general power political composition. The theoretical and methodological analysis of the project is largely based on the Regional Security Complex Theory framework developed by Barry Buzan and other representatives of the Copenhagen school of security studies.