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The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the context of South Caucasus regional security issues: An Armenian perspective†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Sergey Minasyan
Sergey Minasyan*
Affiliation:
Caucasus Institute, Yerevan, Armenia
*
*Email: sergey@c-i.am
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Abstract

For more than a quarter-century, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been one of the most important factors influencing the political map of the South Caucasus. On 12 May 1994, Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire agreement that ended military operations in the conflict zone and has been observed until recently. Negotiations for a peaceful settlement have been underway within the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia, and France since 1992, but society and the elite in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan remain largely unprepared for compromise. Considering the settlement process a zero-sum game, they have generally accused one another of escalating the conflict and of a lack of willingness to restore peace. Other countries and international organizations involved in the negotiations do not share a vision of the future and frequently pursue their own interests. Accordingly, the Karabakh conflict could remain unresolved for decades more. The aim of the paper is a general assessment of the current stage and dynamic of this conflict and the impact of new trends and old obstacles on the prospects for further settlement.

Keywords

Nagorno-KarabakhSouth CaucasusArmeniaAzerbaijandeterrenceconflict settlement
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 131 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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Footnotes

†

This paper was presented during the ICCEES IX 2015 World Congress in Makukhari, Japan, in August 2015.

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