#x98;The#x9C; Balkans and Caucasus parallel processes on the opposite sides of the Black Sea

The overall character of the Black Sea region has been defined over time in various ways. For specialists in economy and trade, it has represented a region at the crossroads of the trade routes between Europe and Asia; for political scientists and historians, it has been a space of confrontation between the great terrestrial and naval powers; for the scholars attentive to its cultural dimensions, it has been a contact zone, a space of interaction between different peoples, religions and cultures. These attempts at a definition all revolve around an essential (and ambivalent) feature of the Black Sea as a factor of connection, a bridge, and at the same time a border, a dividing line between Europe and Asia, between the Baltic and the Mediterranean region. In this fluctuation between the two, the predominance of one over the other ( bridge or border ) has depended on a number of factors, first among them the distribution of power relations in the region. This volume, which originated in a symposium hosted by the New Europe College Institute for Advanced Study in Bucharest, brings together contributions coming from scholars within the Black Sea region and outside it, in an attempt to look at the Balkans and Caucasus from a comparative and multi-disciplinary perspective, highlighting their differences, as well as their common features. The overarching question this volume and the papers included in it address and leave open is to what extent we are dealing with a coherent zone, whose past, present and future can legitimately be considered as being traversed by meaningful interrelations, suggesting a shared destiny. Table of Contents 6 List of Illustrations 9 Introduction • Ivan Biliarsky, Ovidiu Cristea and Anca Oroveanu 12 Part I: The Historical Background: Great Powers, Small Powers 22 Great Powers, Small Powers: Wallachia and Georgia Confront the Eastern Question, 1768-1802 • Keith Hitchins 23 The Quest for Maritime Supremacy in the Black Sea during the Later Middle Ages • Ovidiu Cristea 40 The Lower Danube, Circassia and the Commercial Dimensions of the British-Russian Diplomatic Rivalry in the Black Sea Basin (1836-37) • Constantin Ardeleanu 50 Understanding Intervention: Imperial Thought and Establishing Order in Ottoman Macedonia • Julian Brooks 68 Turkish Foreign Policy’s Historical Perspectives towards the Northern Balkans and Transcaucasus Areas: A Short Comparison of the Late Ottoman and Republican Approaches to the Wider Black Sea Region • Ozan Arslan 83 Regional Cooperation according to Interwar Romanian Nationalists • Roland Clark 95 The Balkans and Caucasus: An Overview of Different Comparative Historical Approaches • Taline Ter Minassian 107 Part II: Spiritual Cross-Currents 116 The Interchange between Religious Heterodoxies in the Balkans and Caucasus: The Case of the Paulicians • Yuri Stoyanov 117 An Example of the Idea of Davidic Kingship on Both Sides of the Black Sea: Tsar Izot, his Archetypes and his Antagonists • Ivan Biliarsky 127 The Orthodox-Chalcedonian Armenians from the Caucasus to the Balkans (An Outline of their History and Identity) • Arsen Hakobyan 154 Twice a Minority: Kosovo Circassians in the Russian Federation • Marieta Kumpilova 166 Part III: Past and Current Challenges: Ethnic Identities and National Building 182 Ethno-cultural Diversity in the Balkans and the Caucasus as an Objective for Comparative Research • Thede Kahl 183 The Shaping of Georgian National Identity: Iveria and Its Readers • Mariam Chkhartishvili 199 A Note on Script Shift and Splitting of Nations in the Caucasus in the Balkans, and Elsewhere: The Russian/Soviet Experience • Zaal Kikvidze 223 Reconstruction of History and Nation Building in the Post-Cold War Era: South Caucasus and the Balkans • Ketevan Kakitelashvili 228 The Balkans and the Caucasus: The Limits of the Comparative Perspective • Ana Dinescu 237 International Community Reactions to the Independence Proclamations of Kosovo, South Ossetia and Abkhazia • Hanna Shelest 250 Enlargement in the Western Balkans: EU Incentives and Domestic Constraints • Arolda Elbasani 267 Part IV: Crossing Borders through Words and Sounds 288 Land und Meer: The Black Sea and the Caucasus in German Culture • Markus Bauer 289 Black Sea Identity and the Autochthon Logic of Thalassophobia • Zaal Andronikashvili 306 Transitions and Traditions on Stage: The Theatre for Change in Georgia • Birgit Kuch 316 Musics of the New Times: Romanian Manele and Armenian Rabiz as Icons of Post-communist Changes • Estelle Amy de la Bretèque and Victor Alexandre Stoichita 332 Contributors 347 The Overall Character Of The Black Sea Region Has Been Defined In Various Ways. This Title Brings Together Contributions From Scholars Within The Black Sea Region And Outside It, In An Attempt To Look At The Balkans And Caucasus From A Comparative And Multi-disciplinary Perspective, Highlighting Their Differences, As Well As Their Common Features. Edited By Ivan Biliarsky, Ovidiu Cristea And Anca Oroveanu. Includes Bibliographical References.