Nagorno-Karabakh and Conflict Resolution in the Realist Tradition of IR

Abstract

This study argues that due to a lack of attention paid to the national
interest of actors in international politics the mainstream international
conflict resolution studies fail in their prescriptive and descriptive aspects;
particularly when conflicts are complicated by geopolitics. The case study of
the long-standing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is used to highlight the
strengths of geopolitical analysis, aimed at a proper understanding of a
conflict's causes and the identities and interests of the actors directly and
indirectly involved. This understanding is a prerequisite for coordinated
international action directed towards the creation of the structural
conditions for peace which would lead the prime actors of the conflict to
choose peaceful resolution as a means to escape the hurting stalemate
situation. In the case of Nagorno-Karabakh - a conflict whose resolution has
been impeded mainly by Azerbaijani and Armenian ethnic nationalism,
coupled with fierce competition between the major powers in Central
Eurasia - a geopolitical analysis leads to the conclusion that the key to the
resolution of the conflict lies in the hands of Russia. Such a resolution
therefore presupposes a redefinition of Russia's interests, which would be
based on the rational calculation that a deliberate destabilization of the
South Caucasus will, in long term, hurt her interests.