And I understand that it will host a summit this fall to raise awareness and support for Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama and Prime Minister Tusk Press Conference

This calls for a Turkish zone of political, economic and cultural influence, primarily among neighbours (many of them former Ottoman dominions) in the Balkans, the south Caucasus and the Middle East.

ECONOMIST: Turkish foreign policy

Many analysts there have warned that once Russia has re-stamped its authority over the North Caucasus it will turn its attention to the South Caucasus, attempting to reassert its influence there too.

BBC: Chechnya making regional waves

The south Caucasus remains so tense that the European Union has delayed its report into the origins of the Georgia war, which was to have been published at the end of July.

ECONOMIST: Russia's north Caucasus

Czar Nicholas I obtained land south of the Caucasus.

CNN: Monday,

The danger, it is now assumed, lies in what Pentagon officials call an "arc of instability" that runs through the Caribbean Rim, Africa, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and North Korea.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Rebasing -- and Reequipping -- for Transformation

Mr Medvedev's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia may also have unpredictable consequences for Russia's north Caucasus.

ECONOMIST: Russia and Georgia

Suddenly, the action switched to South Ossetia, a much smaller rebellious region divided from Russia by the Caucasus mountains.

ECONOMIST: Russia and Georgia

Presumably this means the alliance might set off to keep the peace in the Caucasus or rescue hostages in North Africa, but it will not be dragged off to fight wars in South America or Indochina.

ECONOMIST: NATO��s mid-life crisis