State survival vs leaders’ survival: how ethnic conflicts affect a state’s international alignment behavior

Azar Babayev and Kavus Abushov

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2024, vol. 35, issue 4, 596-621

Abstract: This article examines the underlying factors contributing to a more strategic and rational alignment behaviour exhibited by certain post-Soviet states compared to others in the region and beyond, despite the high stakes of domestic politics. Specifically, it focuses on Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova, suggesting their consistent, state-centric foreign policies arise from facing protracted ethnic conflicts threatening their territorial integrity. The notion of differential survival risks is proposed to explain this phenomenon. Consequently, resolving these conflicts becomes the paramount concern for these states’ leadership to avoid substantial territorial losses or even loss of sovereignty, relegating domestic issues to a secondary status.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09592318.2024.2331262 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:35:y:2024:i:4:p:596-621

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/fswi20

DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2024.2331262

Access Statistics for this article

Small Wars and Insurgencies is currently edited by Paul Rich

More articles in Small Wars and Insurgencies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().