Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-2mk96 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T01:46:41.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The architecture of annexation? Russia's bilateral agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Thomas Ambrosio  and
William A. Lange
Thomas Ambrosio*
Affiliation:
Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
William A. Lange
Affiliation:
Department of History, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
*
∗Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Following the August War of 2008, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Both territories remain dependent upon Moscow for their security and economic survival, and they remain dominated militarily, economically, and even politically by their northern patron. These relationships are structured, in part, by a series of bilateral agreements signed since September 2008, which have created a comprehensive legal architecture which, in turn, deeply affects the state- and nation-building processes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This article examines 78 agreements signed between Russia and these territories between 2008 and 2015 in order to better understand these processes and how they interact with and are influenced by their respective relationships with the Russian Federation. It groups these agreements into three categories: the 2008 “friendship” agreements which created the initial baseline for the bilateral relationship; the numerous, more narrowly defined documents which fleshed-out this relationship; and the “alliance” and “integration” agreements signed with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, respectively, through which Moscow sought to take its relations with these territories to a qualitatively new level. Of particular focus is the degree to which these territories exhibited signs of independent agency and formal autonomy, as well as the differences between them.

Keywords

South OssetiaAbkhaziaRussiastate-buildingnation-buildingtreaties
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 5 , September 2016 , pp. 673 - 693
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

“Abkhazia” (“Abkhaziya”). 2015. “Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” http://archive.mid.ru/spd_md.nsf/twowebcantr?openview&RestrictToCategory=%D0%90%D0%91%D0%A5%D0%90%D0%97%D0%98%D0%AF.Google Scholar
“Agreement Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the Admission of the Republic of Crimea in the Russian Federation and on Forming New Constituent Entities within the Russian Federation” (“Dogovor meždu Rossijskoj Federaciej i Respublikoj Krym o prinjatii v Rossijskuju Federaciju Respubliki Krym i obrazovanii v sostave Rossijskoj Federacii novyh sub “ektov”). 2014. Accessed March 18. http://kremlin.ru/events/presidentynews/20605.Google Scholar
Artman, Vincent. 2013. “Documenting Territory: Passportisation, Territory, and Exception in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Geopolitics 18 (3): 682–704.Google Scholar
Bakke, Kristin, O'Loughlin, John, Toal, Gerard, and Ward, Michael. 2014. “Convincing State-Builders? Disaggregating Internal Legitimacy in Abkhazia.” International Studies Quarterly 58 (3): 591–607.Google Scholar
Basayev, Kazbek. 2012. “Ex-KGB Man Wins South Ossetia Presidential Election.” Reuters. Accessed April 9. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/09/uk-georgia-southossetia-election-idUKBRE83805M20120409.Google Scholar
Bazhanov, Svetlana. 2014. “Chto smushchaet Abkhaziiu v druzhbe s Rossiei” [What Confuses Abkhazia in Friendship with Russia]. Svobodnaia Pressa – Iug. Accessed November 11. http://yug.svpressa.ru/society/article/103597/.Google Scholar
“Bill On Occupied Territories Signed into Law”. 2008. Civil.ge. Accessed October 31. http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19868.Google Scholar
Blakkisrud, Helge, and Kolst⊘, Pål. 2012. “Dynamics of de facto Statehood: The South Caucasian de facto States between Secession and Sovereignty.” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 12 (2): 281–298.Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 1996. Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Burbank, Jane. 2015. “Eurasian Sovereignty: The Case of Kazan.” Problems of Post-Communism 62 (1): 1–25.Google Scholar
Caspersen, Nina. 2012. Unrecognized States: The Struggle for Sovereignty in the Modern International System. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Charny, Semyon and Marzoeva, Emma. 2015. Novyj dogovor Južnoj Osetii s Rossiej fiksiruet složivšiesja meždu nimi otnošenija [The New Agreement with Russia and South Ossetia Captures Existing Relations Between Them]. Caucasian Knot, March 19. Accessed 11 November 2015. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/259116/.Google Scholar
Chuman, Mizuki. 2011. “The Rise and Fall of Power-Sharing Treaties between Center and Regions in Post-Soviet Russia.” Demokratizatsiya 19 (2): 133–150.Google Scholar
Cornai, Giorgio. 2012. “In Abkhazia, Worried about the Language Law.” Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. Accessed November 6. http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/layout/set/print/content/view/pdf/124824.Google Scholar
Cooley, Alexander, and Mitchell, Lincoln. 2010. “Engagement without Recognition: A New Strategy toward Abkhazia and Eurasia's Unrecognized States.” Washington Quarterly 33 (4): 59–73.Google Scholar
Coppieters, Bruno. 2012. “Conflict Resolution After the 2008 Georgia-Russia War: The Taiwan and Kosovo Models as Tools for Mobilization and Comparison.” Nationalities Papers 40 (5): 677–701.Google Scholar
“Draft Agreement Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia on Alliance and Integration (Russian Version),” (Proekt Dogovora mezhdu Rossiiskoi Federatsiei i Respublikoi Iuzhnaia Osetiia o soiuznichestve i integratsii [rossiiskii variant]). 2015. Caucasian Knot. Accessed January 20. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/255809.Google Scholar
“Draft Treaty on the Russian-Abkhazian Alliance: a Comparison” (“Proekty rossiisko-abkhazskogo dogovora o soiuznichestve: sravnenie”). 2014. Caucasian Knot. Accessed November 24. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/252874/.Google Scholar
Ellison, Brian. 2011. “Russian Grand Strategy in the South Ossetia War.” Demokratizatsiya 19 (4): 343–366.Google Scholar
Fazal, Tanisha, and Griffiths, Ryan. 2014. “Membership Has Its Privileges: The Changing Benefits of Statehood.” International Studies Review 16 (1): 79–106.Google Scholar
Fuller, Liz. 2015. “‘Integration’ With Russia Rives South Ossetia's Political Scene.” RFE/RL. Accessed January 23. http://www.rferl.org/articleprintview/26810121.html.Google Scholar
Garb, Paula. 2009. “The View from Abkhazia of South Ossetia Ablaze.” Central Asian Survey 28 (2): 235–246.Google Scholar
Gassieva, Dena. 2014. “Bibilov: dogovor ob integratsii s RF otrazit interesy Iuzhnoy Osetii” [Bibilov: Treaty on Integration with Russia Will Reflect the Interests of South Ossetia]. RIA Novosti. Accessed November 11. http://ria.ru/world/20141111/1032752075.html#ixzz3K4Bqu4o9.Google Scholar
Gel'man, Vladimir. 2004. “The Unrule of Law in the Making: The Politics of Informal Institution Building in Russia.” Europe-Asia Studies 56 (7): 1021–1040.Google Scholar
German, Tracey. 2012. “Securing the South Caucasus: Military Aspects of Russian Policy towards the Region Since 2008.” Europe-Asia Studies 64 (9): 1650–1666.Google Scholar
Hale, Henry. 2011. “Formal Constitutions in Informal Politics: Institutions and Democratization in Post-Soviet Eurasia.” World Politics 63 (4): 581–617.Google Scholar
Rights Watch, Human. 2011. “Living in Limbo: Rights of Ethnic Georgians Returnees to the Gali District of Abkhazia.” Accessed July 15. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/georgia0711LR.pdf.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2010a. “Abkhazia: Deepening Dependence.” Europe Report #202. Accessed February 26. http://www.crisisgroup.Org/~/media/Files/europe/202_abkhazia___deepening_dependence.ashx.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2010b. “South Ossetia: The Burden of Recognition.” Europe Report #205. Accessed June 7. http://www.crisisgroup.Org/~/media/Files/europe/205%20South%20Ossetia%20-%20The%20Burden%20of%20Recognition.ashx.Google Scholar
Jasutis, Grazvydas. 2014. “Military Integration Between Russia and South Ossetia: Quo Vadis?” Baltic Security and Defence Review 16 (1): 46–68.Google Scholar
Kolossov, Vladimir, and O'Loughlin, John. 2011. “After the Wars in the South Caucasus State of Georgia: Economic Insecurities and Migration in the ‘de facto’ States of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 52 (5): 631–654.Google Scholar
Markedonov, Sergei. 2014. “Rossiisko-abkhazskii dogovor: na poverkhnosti i mezhdu strok” [Russian–Abkhazian Agreement: On the Surface and between the Lines]. Voice of America. Accessed October 15. http://blogs.voanews.com/russian/new-eurasia/2014/10/15/.Google Scholar
Marten, Kimberly. 2015. “Informal Political Networks and Putin's Foreign Policy.” Problems of Post-Communism 62 (2): 71–87.Google Scholar
McKibben, Heather. 2013. “The Effects of Structures and Power on State Bargaining Strategies.” American Journal of Political Science 57 (2): 411–427.Google Scholar
Nielsen, Christian. 2009. “The Kosovo Precedent and the Rhetorical Deployment of Former Yugoslav Analogies in the Cases of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 9 (1-2): 171–189.Google Scholar
Ó Beacháin, Donnacha. 2012. “The Dynamics of Electoral Politics in Abkahzia.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 45 (1-2): 165–174.Google Scholar
Panke, Diana. 2012a. “Dwarfs in International Negotiations: How Small States Make their Voices Heard.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 25 (3): 313–328.Google Scholar
Panke, Diana. 2012b. “Small States in Multilateral Negotiations. What Have We Learned?” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 25 (3): 387–398.Google Scholar
“Raul Khajimba Stated the Need to Finalize the Draft of the Russian-Abkhazian Agreement” (“Raul’ Khadzhimba zaiavil o neobkhodimosti dorabotat’ proekt rossiisko-abkhazskogo dogovora”). 2014. Caucasian Knot. Accessed October 22. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/251134/.Google Scholar
Riegl, Martin. 2014. “Prospects and Limits of Economic Development of Unrecognized States: Between Organized Hypocracy and Private Interests.” European Scientific Journal 10 (4): 17–35.Google Scholar
“Russia and Abkhazia had Disagreements on Draft Treaty of Alliance” (“U Rossii i Abkhazii poiavilis’ raznoglasiia po proektu dogovora o soiuznichestve”). 2014. Vzgliad. Accessed October 16. http://vz.ru/news/2014/10/16/710940.html.Google Scholar
Schneider, Christina. 2011. “Weak States and Institutionalized Bargaining Power in International Organizations.” International Studies Quarterly 55 (2): 331–355.Google Scholar
Slobodchikoff, Michael. 2013. Strategic Cooperation: Overcoming the Barriers of Global Anarchy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Slobodchikoff, Michael. 2014. Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way: Order, Stability, and Predictability in the Post-Soviet Space. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Smith, David. 2002. “Framing the National Question in Central and Eastern Europe: A Quadratic Nexus?” Global Review of Ethnopolitics 2 (1): 3–16.Google Scholar
“South Ossetia Leader Says Treaty Could Call for Joining Russia”. 2014. RFE/RL. Accessed December 11. http://www.rferl.org/articleprintview/26737140.html.Google Scholar
“South Ossetia” (“Yuzhnaia Osetiia”). 2015. “Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” http://archive.mid.ru/spd_md.nsf/twowebcantr?openview&RestrictToCategory=%D0%AE%D0%96%D0%9D%D0%90%D0%AF%20%D0%9E%D0%A1%D0%95%D0%A2%D0%98%D0%AF.Google Scholar
“Statement of the Political Council of ‘United Ossetia'” (“Zaiavlenie politsoveta RPP ‘Edinaia Osetiya'”). 2015. Res. Accessed January 19. http://cominf.org/node/1166504011.Google Scholar
Toal, Gerard, and O'Loughlin, John. 2013. “Inside South Ossetia: A Survey of Attitudes in a de facto State.” Post-Soviet Affairs 29 (2): 136–172.Google Scholar
“Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia on Alliance and Integration. Draft of 01.12.2015“ (“Dogovor mezdu Rossiiskoi Federatsiei i Respublikoi Iuzhnaia Osetiia o soiuznichestve i integratsii. Proekt ot 12.01.2015g.”). 2015a. Caucasian Knot. January 20. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/255788/.Google Scholar
“Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia on Alliance and Integration. Draft of the Party ‘South [sic] Ossetia'” (“Dogovor mezhdu Rossiiskoi Federatsiei i Respublikoi Iuzhnaia Osetiia o soiuznichestve i integratsii. Proekt partii ‘Iuzhnaia Osetiia'”). 2015b. Caucasian Knot. Accessed January 24. http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/256085/.Google Scholar
Unanyants, Vladimir. 2014. “Roin Agrba: Rossiia poluchala bol'she abkhazskogo suvereniteta chem prosila” [Roin Agrba: Russia Obtained More Abkhazian Sovereignty than Requested]. New Caucasus. Accessed October 15. http://newcaucasus.com/?newsid=7094.Google Scholar
Willerton, John. 2009. Patronage and Politics in the USSR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Willerton, John, Goertz, Gary, and Slobodchikoff, Michael. 2015. “Mistrust and Hegemony: Regional Institutional Design, the FSU-CIS, and Russia.” International Area Studies Review 18 (1): 26–52.Google Scholar
Willerton, John, Slobodchikoff, Michael, and Goertz, Gary. 2012. “Treaty Networks, Nesting, and Interstate Cooperation: Russia, the FSU, and the CIS.” International Area Studies Review 15 (1): 59–82.Google Scholar
Zatulin, Konstantin. 2015. “Abkhazy ochen’ boiatsia prosnut'sia odnazhdy ne khoziaevami na svoei zemle” [Abkhazians are Afraid to Wake Up One Day Not Masters in Their Own Land]. Accessed February 18. http://zatulin.ru/index.php?&section=publications&id=860.Google Scholar
Zavodskaia, Elena. 2014. “Valeriy Bganba: ‘Vo mnogikh mestakh rech’ idet o potere suvereniteta'”Google Scholar
[Valeri Bganba: ‘In Many Places, we are Talking about a Loss of Sovereignty']. Echo of the Caucasus (Ekho Kavkaza). Accessed October 14. http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/content/article/26637366.html.Google Scholar
Zedgenidze, George. 2014. “Pochemu Abkhaziia boitsia novogo dogovora s Rossiei” [Why Abkhazia Fears a New Treaty with Russia]. Slon Magazine. Accessed October 20. http://slon.ru/world/zachem_rossii_nuzhen_novyy_dogovor_s_abkhaziey-1173542.xhtml.Google Scholar