Is the South Caucasus in Europe? It’s a bit of an open question. Culturally, they are on the border where Islam meets Christianity, and where democracy meets authoritarianism. I call the Caucasus “the lands in between.” Geographically, the countries lie between Europe, Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. I actually met someone in the Istanbul airport reading it, so that imaginary reader came to life! Where is the Caucasus? Is it considered Europe or Asia? The first edition came out in 2010, so this is the updated version. When they got off the plane, that person would know the basics. My pitch was that the book should be bought by someone traveling to the region. Later I realized there was a gap in the market to write a short, readable introduction to the Caucasus as a whole. Eventually, I became less of a Russia expert and more of a Caucasus expert, writing a book about the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There was lots to cover-it was a turbulent time with ongoing conflicts and state breakdown. The people were friendly and the food was certainly better. When I was a student then a journalist in Moscow, I used to enjoy traveling south, where they still spoke Russian but I wasn’t in Russia. I’ve been going to the region for more than thirty years. What made you want to study and write about this part of the world?
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