Regrettably, the confrontation around Nagorno-Karabakh continues. Starting from December 13, 2022, a group, according to the Azerbaijani side, of independent environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting mainland Armenia with the Karabakh region, cutting off food, medicine, and energy supplies to the area for nearly two months. As a result, according to the Armenian side, 120,000 Armenian residents of Karabakh are suffering from a lack of elementary resources. The Azerbaijani side in turn claims that it never prevented the shipping of food, medicine, and energy supplies through Lachin. The current crisis is a clear test of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the South Caucasus. Since the war in Ukraine, Russia is losing its right to be an impartial mediator, its chance to get international support, and its influence in the south Caucasus. Meanwhile, having abandoned Russia as a gas and oil supplier, Europe is turning to Azerbaijan. Baku is a crucial ally and an important link in the transportation of energy resources to the West.
What is going on in the Lachin corridor? Who is responsible for this crisis? Is Russia failing to fulfill its mission or is it driven by other motives? How should Western Europe react to this crisis? How should the US? What are the interests of Turkey and Iran? What should be done to prevent the humanitarian crises in the region?
Speakers:
Ahmad Alili is a researcher in international public policy and regional security of the South Caucasus, EaP countries, and neighboring regional powers. He is part of several peacebuilding initiatives supported by the EU, UN, and PfP consortium. Currently, he is the director of the Caucasus Policy Analysis Centre (CPAC), a Baku-based independent think-tank intending to achieve regional integration of the South Caucasus. Also, Mr. Alili is a lecturer at the Academy of Public Administration on the role of non-state actors in regional security, geopolitics, public management, and good governance.
Ann Phillips is a scholar-practitioner with long experience as a professor at US and German universities, senior political economist at USAID, senior policy analyst at the US Department of State, program director and professor at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Most recently, she was a senior advisor to the Nagorno-Karabakh / South Caucasus Project at the US Institute of Peace. She continues work on the South Caucasus as a Fellow, Center for Peacemaking Practice, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Alexander Iskandaryan is a prominent expert on politics, nationalism, and the contemporary history of Armenia, the South Caucasus, and Eurasia. He is a political scientist and the Director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, Armenia. He has authored numerous works on these topics, presented papers, and has talked at numerous conferences.
Moderator:
Mikail Mamedov holds his Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University where he is also a Lecturer in History and the Liberal Studies Program of the School of Continuing Studies and the same Department. His multiethnic Azeri-Armenian family arrived in the US back in 1996, in the wake of the Karabakh conflict. He holds his MA from George Washington University and his Diploma in History from Moscow Lomonosov State University. He authored numerous articles on the History of the Caucasus and on contemporary literature and the Karabakh conflict.Regrettably, the confrontation around Nagorno-Karabakh continues. Starting from December 13, 2022, a group, according to the Azerbaijani side, of independent environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting mainland Armenia with the Karabakh region, cutting off food, medicine, and energy supplies to the area for nearly two months. As a result, according to the Armenian side, 120,000 Armenian residents of Karabakh are suffering from a lack of elementary resources. The Azerbaijani side in turn claims that it never prevented the shipping of food, medicine, and energy supplies through Lachin. The current crisis is a clear test of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the South Caucasus. Since the war in Ukraine, Russia is losing its right to be an impartial mediator, its chance to get international support, and its influence in the south Caucasus. Meanwhile, having abandoned Russia as a gas and oil supplier, Europe is turning to Azerbaijan. Baku is a crucial ally and an important link in the transportation of energy resources to the West.