Between War and Peace: Frozen Conflicts in Eurasia (special issue of Asia Europe Journal, eds.) (original) (raw)

Between war and peace: a dynamic reconceptualization of “frozen conflicts” (Asia Europe Journal)

Asia Europe Journal , 2019

Frozen conflicts, situations in which war ended yet stable peace did not materialize, trouble both Asia and Europe. Despite the clear policy relevance of this problem, the notion of frozen conflicts remains surprisingly blurred in peace and conflict studies literature. In this paper, we seek to provide a rigorous conceptualization of frozen conflicts. We situate frozen conflicts into a broader debate about enduring rivalries in international politics and demonstrate the theoretical relevance of the term vis-à-vis existing concepts. Furthermore, we outline a theoretical model of frozen conflict dynamics, which portrays frozen conflicts as dynamic configurations undergoing a periodical “thawing” in relations between the opposing sides: either toward diplomatic negotiations (“peaceful thawing”) or re-escalation toward use of armed force (“violent thawing”). We illustrate the usefulness of our model with empirical observations from other articles in this special issue and conclude with possible avenues for further research.

Introduction: Beyond 'Frozen Conflict'

Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry, 2019

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict for control of the mountainous territory of Nagorny Karabakh is the longest-running dispute in post-Soviet Eurasia. This book looks beyond tabloid tropes of ‘frozen conflict’ or ‘Russian land-grab’, to unpack both unresolved territorial issues left over from the 1990s and the strategic rivalry that has built up around them since. Far from ‘frozen’, this book demonstrates how more than two decades of dynamic conceptions of territory, shifting power relations, international diffusion and unsuccessful mediation efforts have contributed to the resilience of this stubbornly unresolved dispute - one of the most intractable of our times.

FINDING A THEORETICAL APPROACH FOR STUDYING POST-SOVIET 'FROZEN' CONFLICTS

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RUSSIAN STUDIES, 2017

It is critical to understand the forces and phenomenon behind regional conflicts, inhibiting development of various regions around the world. This paper focuses on two regions South Caucasus and Eastern Europe that face unresolved conflicts which can also be termed as 'frozen' conflicts with an in depth look at four particular conflicts in the post-Soviet region i.e. Transnistria, Nagorno Karabakh, Abkazia and South Ossetia. The main aim of the paper is to identify the most suitable theoretical lens needed to look at these conflicts, from the various international political theories available. The paper compares three approaches that can provide a framework to understand these conflicts-structural realism, critical theory and liberalism but argues that these conflicts can be best understood under the realm of structural realism.

The Changing Nature of the Conflict. From Global to Local

2020

A misunderstanding or a disagreement, an incompatible situation or a competition between opponents that can generate into violence, conflict is a constant feature of human society. It can lead, depending on the context, to development or, on the contrary, to the dissolution of the organization or society. From the international relations’ point of view, a conflict is a dynamic process based on the clashing of interests of the international system’s participants. After the end of the Cold War, the change of conditions and determinations at the international level imprinted a specific evolution of the international conflict by transforming it in accordance with the conversion recorded by the global power architecture. In the same logic can be explained the reverse of the conditioning relationship, respectively of transforming the structure of the international system depending on the stake and the magnitude of the international conflict.

From “frozen conflict” to enduring rivalry: reassessing the Nagorny Karabakh conflict

Nationalities Papers, 2015

This article draws on International Relations theory to attempt a reframing of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorny Karabakh as an enduring rivalry (ER): a particular kind of interstate conflict known for its longevity and stability. The article begins by identifying a number of conceptual deficits circulating around this conflict, notably the notion that it is a “frozen conflict”, before introducing the ER framework and its analytical dividends for this case. Different layers to the ER between Armenia and Azerbaijan are then explored at systemic, interstate, domestic, decision-maker and temporal levels, with a view more to identifying directions for future research than conclusive findings. Among the article’s tentative conclusions are the primacy of endogenous over exogenous factors in explaining the durability of the rivalry between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impacts of the passage of time on the human and physical geography of the territory under dispute, and the convergence of conflict dynamics across disparate levels.