Sergey Markedonov is a visiting fellow in the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program. He is an expert on the Caucasus, as well as Black Sea, regional security, nationalism, interethnic conflicts and de-facto states in the post-Soviet area. His publications include several books and reports, 50 academic articles, and more than 400 press pieces. Recently published books and reports include The Turbulent Eurasia (Academia, 2010), The Big Caucasus: Consequences of the “Five Day War,” New Challenges and Prospects (International Centre for Black Sea Studies, 2009), and The Ethno-national and Religious Factors in Social-political Life of the Caucasus Region (Moscow State University, 2005). Markedonov graduated from Rostov-on-Don State University in 1995. He earned his doctoral degree in history at Rostov-on-Don State Pedagogical University in 1999. From 1996 to 1999, he was a lecturer in the History Department of Rostov-on-Don State Pedagogical University. From 1998 to 2001, he served as senior fellow at the Governor's Press-Service in the Rostov Regional Administration. From 2001 to 2010, he worked as head of the Interethnic Relations Group and deputy director at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis in Moscow. From 2006 to 2010, he also held teaching positions at the Russian State University for the Humanities, the Moscow State University, and the Diplomatic Academy.

The presentation is focused upon the transformation of the Caucasus region from periphery to one of the focal points of the Eurasian, European and Transatlantic security. The author examines the basic reasons of the stirring up of the different states (USA, Turkey, Iran), the integration communities (European Union) and international organizations (OSCE, NATO and UN) in the Caucasus since the USSR dissolution. The Author pays a special attention to the Russia’s position and its desire for the keeping of exclusive role in the Caucasus geopolitics. The presentation stresses on the new status quo shaping after the August War of 2008 (new political agenda for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, new Western strategies on engagement/non-recognition, impact of the August war on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution and the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement).