We will examine the primary causes, key participants, and the progression of armed conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia in the South Caucasus, along with the Prigorodnyi region and Chechnya in the North Caucasus. The session will explore the factors that triggered these conflicts and review what the academic literature identifies as their root causes. Special attention will be given to local dynamics, such as historical territorial disputes, intercommunal tensions, power imbalances between majority and minority groups, and the influence of national leaders in intensifying the conflicts.

Mandatory Literature:

Broers,  Laurence and Yemelianov, Galina M (2022): “Ethno-territorial and secessionist conflicts: causes and trajectories” chapter 15 in “Routledge Handbook  of the Caucasus,” pp. 239-256. 

Ratelle, Jean-Francois (2022): “Transnational  Salafi  and  jihadist networks: from an independent insurgency to a  leaderless network”, chapter 18, in Routledge Handbook  of the Caucasus,” pp. 288-301.