CSS Evening Talk: Conflicts and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus

On 23 January, the CSS hosted a discussion on conflicts and options for conflict resolution in the Caucasus for CSS staff members, FDFA
officials, and other invited guests with an interest in security policy issues. The speakers, Professor Neil MacFarlane of the University of Oxford and Professor Jeronim Perović of the University of Zurich, agreed that in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as in Georgia disputes with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, no solutions were in sight. On the contrary, at least in the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there is a danger of escalation, since Azerbaijan is adopting an increasingly assertive stance towards
Armenia on the strength of its large oil revenues and the resulting arms expenditures. Should a new round of hostilities erupt, the violence might also spread to the broader neighborhood, including Iran or Turkey. Unfortunately, the outlook is therefore also bleak for the OSCE, which has been engaged in conflict resolution for years and which will be chaired by Switzerland in 2014.