Department of Political Science

“With key international players distracted by other events — COVID-19, Brexit, US presidential elections — intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh has raged for the past seven weeks, leading to the death of thousands, enormous destruction of civilian infrastructure and displacement of over 130,000 people.  Complaints have also been raised regarding the use of banned cluster munitions, human rights abuses and possible war crimes.  Diplomatic efforts by Russia, France and the US failed to bring about a ceasefire in these hostilities, which now risk an escalation that could bring Russian and Turkish military forces into the mix.  Ambassador Cavanaugh will discuss how this formerly “frozen conflict” has come to this point and what options the international community has to try to restore peace.”