Few know the name Nagorno-Karabakh, nor the recent flare up
of hostilities that erupted there earlier this year. To provide a modicum of
context, Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in-between Armenia and Azerbaijan which
was the site of a brutal conflict in the waning years of the Soviet Union. From
1988 until 1994 Azeris and Armenians fought for control of this territory,
which is internationally recognized as the territory of Azerbaijan, but has an
ethnic majority of Armenians. After massive loss of life and forced
displacement of both ethnic Armenians and Azeris, the current untenable ceasefire
was mediated by Russia. Armenia controls most of what is now Nagorno-Karabakh
with a self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic being declared but not
recognized globally. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has made plain the fact that they do
not want to permanently cede any territory, nor have much interest in greater
autonomy for this region. Under this backdrop, headway still seemed to be made.
In 2009 meetings between the two nations showed Promise, with Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev stating “the negotiations can be said to have been mainly completed”.
This turned out to be quixotic. In April of this year open hostilities broke
out for days, with allegations of ceasefire violations still continuing to this
day. Numbers on the dead are hard to corroborate in the fog of war, but dozens
of soldiers and numerous civilians were killed.
This conflict in and of itself has important ramifications.
From a geopolitical standpoint Azerbaijan is a close Turkish ally, and Armenia
relies on Russia as its patron. Massive oil and natural gas deposits in the
Caspian Sea means the region plays a vital role for European energy interests.
In addition, the human toll this recent resurgence in the conflict has taken
cannot be forgotten. However, for all its significance this conflict has been
woefully underreported, meaning lessons that can be gleaned from it are less likely
to be learned. Thankfully, as the dozens (note this is up from tens) of avid
readers of The Thiébault Blog are well aware, this is a blog that is committed
to exposing and learning from important stories which have not received their
due.
From a global standpoint, this flare up is instructive for
what it says about world peace. Nagorno-Karabakh was known as a frozen
conflict, one that was on few people’s radar to escalate. Over a decade of ceasefire
had led to complacency in the peace process which was in place, as well as from
the international community. With more than enough active conflicts which need
some resolution perhaps this is understandable. However, the impetus for peace
in those places with ceasefires needs to remain. There is some hope, in
Colombia the government and FARC guerillas who have been fighting for 52 years,
will sign a peace treaty later this month. Elsewhere in the world, seemingly intractable
conflicts mired in endless ceasefires remain. Cyprus, Moldova, Korea, Morocco,
India and Pakistan, among others, are embroiled in conflicts which to varying degrees
are frozen. Despite the scant attention these conflicts typically receive,
paroxysm from a dictator, economic instability, or dictates from more powerful
allies can quickly result in re-escalation.
Nagorno-Karabakh serves as a sobering reminder of the
importance of durable peace for all conflicts, including those which are not
currently active. If we forget the importance of constantly striving for peace
regardless of the stage a conflict is in, then we needlessly imperil the prospects
for peace around the world.
