How to Mediate an Enduring Peace for Nagorno-Karabakh

Abstract

The Nagorno-Karabakh Region (NKR) in Azerbaijan sits at the cross- roads of Europe and Asia, which has historically facilitated commercial exchanges on the Silk Road, interactions between the region’s overlapping ethnicities, and invasions by Arab, Persian, Mongol, and Turkish armies. In spite of these various interactions — or maybe because of them — many attempts have been made to separate ethnic Armenians from Azeris or, in some cases, to extinguish them from the region. NKR’s historical claim to autonomy rests on the right to self-determination. Although it currently functions as an independent state under the provisions of the Montevideo Convention, NKR still stands to gain from recognition by the international community. Great Power support — that is, support of the permanent members of the Security Council and other nations with a historical interest in the region — under the framework of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is needed to increase NKR’s chances for formal autonomy and statehood.

Keywords: NKR, Karabakh, R2P, Armenia, US, Russia, Azerbaijan, International Law, Human Rights