The Geopoliticization of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Shadow of the Madrid Principles: A Look at the Past

Abstract

While the majority of Armenian scholars are convinced the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be based on the implementation of the right of self-determination, very little attention has been paid to the issue of the legitimacy of the pre-war borders of the Republic of Artsakh. Roughly, it is possible to divide the positions of the Armenian expert community into those who believed some or most of the seven districts will be ceded to Azerbaijan as a result of negotiations and those who deemed any attempt to change the pre-war status-quo as either dangerous, strategically flawed, unnecessary, groundless or downright betrayal of national interests and the century-long struggle for the integrity of Artsakh and Armenia. However, the evolution of the state of the de-facto Republic of Artsakh in the context of the legitimacy of its pre-war borders has received scant, if any, academic attention. It is this side of the matter that we attempt to address in this article through the lens of territoriality and the critical review of the so-called Madrid Principles.