Feminist foreign policy as a new approach to peaceful resolutions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts in Georgia
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Feminist foreign policy, Georgia, conflict resolution, Abkhazia, South OssetiaAbstract
The paper explores the current strategies and peaceful resolution processes as well as the state response to territorial conflicts in Georgia and democracy, the rule of law, and the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Conflicts over the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia resulted in two full-scale wars in 1991 and 2008, with the demand for secession from Georgia and international recognition of independence. The peace talks negotiated by the different international organizations over decades have not achieved any significant solution to resolve the issue. Therefore, there is a need for a new approach to investigate the benefits of Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) directions in conflict resolution to look at Georgian territorial conflicts from a different perspective. The purpose of this research is to analyze the potential application of FFP in addressing the conflicts over Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia. By examining FFP's principles and their alignment with Georgia's National Security Concept (NSC) and engagement policy, the study seeks to uncover innovative approaches to conflict resolution that prioritize inclusivity, equality, and gender-sensitive strategies. The analysis illustrates that the Georgian National Security Concept encourages only peaceful solutions to the conflict, and there is a possibility of including the FFP features in the foreign policy strategies of Georgia. The research investigates peace and security matters in the context of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, such as human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in the perceptions of IDPs to answer the questions of the applicability of FFP to the resolution of violent clashes in Georgia.
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