This autumn, six weeks of war raged between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, killing and displacing thousands in a brutal continuation of the now decades-long conflict. On 27 September, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, began a military offensive that sought to wrestle back control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the territories that surround it. The war came to an end on 9 November, after Russia brokered a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This deal proposed that Armenia hand over both parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and areas in the buffer zone that surround it, with a Russian peace-keeping force deployed to protect the road that connects the territory to Armenia.
As part of our coverage of the war, openDemocracy spoke to historian and diplomat Gerard Libaridian, who retired from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2012, and Thomas de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe.
