After Nagorno-Karabakh: Instability in the South Caucasus
The longest-running conflict in the former Soviet Union appears to have come to a dramatic end with Azerbaijan’s “lightning offensive” against the (unrecognized) Armenian state of Nagorno-Karabakh following a nine-month-long blockade of the region. Azerbaijan’s victory has been followed by the flight of virtually the entire Armenian population of the territory. Azerbaijan’s use of military force to achieve what decades of diplomacy had sought to achieve peacefully has dramatically changed the power balance in the southern Caucasus. The humanitarian crisis that ensued as well as the broader geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts taking hold involve not only Iran, Russia, and Turkey but also actors such as the U.S., the E.U., and Israel. To analyze and discuss these developments and their implications, Shujaat Ahmadzada, independent researcher was joined by Lara Setrakian, President of the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia. Anatol Lieven, Eurasia Director at the Quincy Institute, moderated the conversation.
Program
Panelists
Shujaat Ahmadzada
Shujaat Ahmadzada is an independent researcher with expertise in foreign and security policies of the South Caucasus countries, Russia and Turkey. He holds MA in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow (UK) and BA in International Relations from the Academy of Public Administration (Azerbaijan). Ahmadzada has years of experience in youth work, project management and policy advisory.
Lara Setrakian
Lara Setrakian is an award-winning journalist and the President of the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia, an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in Yerevan. Her work focuses on advancing regional stability, sustainable prosperity, and civic engagement in the South Caucasus. She is also the Co-Founder of News Deeply, an innovative digital media company focused on critical global issues, now in partnership with The New Humanitarian.
Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven directs the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. From 1985 to 1998, Lieven worked as a journalist in South Asia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and covered the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and the southern Caucasus. Lieven is the author of several books, including "Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power?" (Yale University Press, 1998)