Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia: The Ascent of Ethnopolitical Conflict

Abstract

The ideological power vacuum which developed upon the breakup of the U.S.S.R. further deepened as a result of the inability, or unwillingness, of the central government in Moscow to effectively prevent interethnic confrontations within the outlying provinces of the former Soviet Union. This, then, resulted in the gradual discrediting of local Soviet authorities and brought about the parallel emergence of nationalist groups, for which the outstanding questions of Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia separatism were the easiest means through which to gain public support and popularity. The rhetorical indulgences of the (post-) Communist nationalists, their respective efforts to display fierce patriotism and devotion to national interests, and their newfound determination to further local nationalist interests at all costs, left little room for negotiation or compromise.