The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

Author: Michael P. Croissant

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1998-07-23

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0313071721

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Of all the violent disputes that have flared across the former Soviet Union since the late 1980s, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is the only one to pose a genuine threat to peace and security throughout Eurasia. By right of its strategic location and oil resources, the Transcaucasus has been and will continue to be a source of interest for external powers competing to advance their geopolitical influence in the region. Under such conditions, the possibility will remain for the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict to reignite and expand to include other powers. The ten-year conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been one of the bloodiest and most intractable disputes to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. Animosity that developed between the Armenians and Azeris under czarist Russian rule was fueled by the rise of a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region for which both peoples feel an intense nationalistic affinity. The attachment of the region to Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1923 became a source of deep resentment for the Armenians, and during the rule of Gorbachev, a campaign was begun to achieve the peaceful unification of Armenia and Karabakh. Azerbaijan resisted the move as a threat to its territorial integrity, and clashes that broke out soon escalated into a full-scale war that outlived the USSR itself. Although a cease-fire has been observed since May, 1994, a peaceful settlement to the conflict has been elusive. Meanwhile, by right of both the strategic location and resources and the unique security characteristics of the Transcaucasus, major external powers—Russia, Turkey, and Iran—have sought to influence the dispute according to their geopolitical interests. With the growth of interest in the oil riches of the Caspian Sea and the increasing engagement of Western countries, including the United States, the risks and implications of renewed violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan will grow. This major study will be of interest to students, scholars, and policymakers involved with international relations, military affairs, and the Transcaucasus.

Black Garden
Black Garden

Author: Thomas de Waal

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2013-07-08

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0814785786

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“Brilliant.”—Time “Admirable, rigorous. De Waal [is] a wise and patient reporter.”—The New York Review of Books “Never have all the twists and turns, sad carnage, and bullheadedness on all side been better described—or indeed, better explained...Offers a deeper and more compelling account of the conflict than anyone before.”—Foreign Affairs Since its publication in 2003, the first edition of Black Garden has become the definitive study of how Armenia and Azerbaijan, two southern Soviet republics, were pulled into a conflict that helped bring them to independence, spell the end the Soviet Union, and plunge a region of great strategic importance into a decade of turmoil. This important volume is both a careful reconstruction of the history of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict since 1988 and on-the-spot reporting of the convoluted aftermath. Part contemporary history, part travel book, part political analysis, the book is based on six months traveling through the south Caucasus, more than 120 original interviews in the region, Moscow, and Washington, and unique historical primary sources, such as Politburo archives. The historical chapters trace how the conflict lay unresolved in the Soviet era; how Armenian and Azerbaijani societies unfroze it; how the Politiburo failed to cope with the crisis; how the war was fought and ended; how the international community failed to sort out the conflict. What emerges is a complex and subtle portrait of a beautiful and fascinating region, blighted by historical prejudice and conflict. The revised and updated 10th-year anniversary edition includes a new forward, a new chapter covering developments up to-2011, such as the election of new presidents in both countries, Azerbaijan’s oil boom and the new arms race in the region, and a new conclusion, analysing the reasons for the intractability of the conflict and whether there are any prospects for its resolution. Telling the story of the first conflict to shake Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union, Black Garden remains a central account of the reality of the post-Soviet world.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. Which Role Does the Russian Federation Have in Preserving the Stalemate?
The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. Which Role Does the Russian Federation Have in Preserving the Stalemate?

Author: Simeon Ivanov

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2019-05-22

Total Pages: 61

ISBN-13: 3668944210

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Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: 1,3, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Political Science), language: English, abstract: This longitudinal study at the intersection of conflict studies and international relations aims to analyse the motives of the Russian Federation and its role in the preservation of the current status-quo of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The main arguments of the thesis derive from international relations theories (realism in particular) and the results put emphasis on geopolitical and economic incentives. Moreover, the thesis pays attention to the background of the conflict, as well as the relations between the three states. The general results can help to analyse other conflict in which the Russian Federation is involved as a third party. The deep origins of the conflict can be traced to almost a century ago, when in 1921 (some sources suggest 1923 or 1924) the Soviet Union made Nagorno-Karabakh an autonomous region within the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic, although the majority of the population was Armenian. The first tensions arose during the 1970s and the Gorbachev`s policies of perestroika and glasnost during the late 1980s gave extra momentum of the Karabakh-Armenians` movement, which desire was to unite with the Armenian SSR. The demand of the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh to unify with Armenia in February 1988 sparked Azerbaijani aggression and in result, inter-ethnic violence sharpened and militia groups in both republics started ethnic cleansings. The conflict erupted in August 1990, when Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union, claiming the Nagorno-Karabakh region as its territory. In response, Azeri and Soviet troops tried to disarm Armenian militias in the region, which was accompanied by skirmishers along the Azeri-Armenian border and within the secessionist entity. However, in September 1991 Nagorno-Karabakh declared its own independence, fully supported by Armenia, whereas Azerbaijan proclaimed direct presidential rule over the secessionist entity. The all-out war started with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the official independence of Armenia and Azerbaijan and lasted until May 1994, when a Russian brokered ceasefire was signed. However, over the next years fighting occurred periodically, despite the agreement, the diplomatic efforts and the meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents.