Nagorno-Karabakh Clashes - Reminders of Long Lost Empires

Submitted by M Tovey (United States), Apr 15, 2021 at 15:00

It is not lost on some that the ever present simmerings of 'tribal' rivalries dating to hundreds, even thousands of years ago, tend toe be reminders that visons of empires are the bane of Middle Eastern/South Asian antipathies and one is not at a loss for finding the 'next cause' for extending those hostilities. That the former Soviet Union was involved in this likely stem from the interventions of Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (aka Stalin) in the region and may well have been the source of modern antagonisms in view today. Certainly, as is seen in Nagorno-Karabakh and its constant series of clashes dating from before the original date of this post and the intermittent years of 2010, 2016, and 2020. In looking at how the internal politics of each side and the innate hostilities of empire are still as fresh as they have been for all those centuries, it is not clear how there will ever be a safe place for any of the Turks, Iranians, Azerbaijanis', or even where there are the displaced Christians from before Islam.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".