Cultural paradigms and political change in the Caucasus

Situated between Europe and Asia and affording classic example of the "clash of civilizations", the Caucasus contains socio-cultural and ethnic complexities which have often created contradictions between official political allegiances and the cultural practices of local communities. Perhaps this can explain why Christian Georgians and Muslim Chechens and Kists of the Caucasian highlands have considered each other brothers, worshipped the same deities and celebrated the same religious holidays, despite the political and religious dissent between their representative political organizations. It is too simplistic to see the Caucasus in terms of the rigid political oppositions between East and West, U.S. and Russia, Christianity and Islam, modernity and deep-rooted tradition, socialism and post-socialism. Through their exploration of cultural archetypes and political change as interrelated categories, the authors interpret the past and present of the Caucasus and envision its future, reflecting upon the prospects of building liberal democracy, free will, modernity and freedom of expression.