Threat Actors Exploit the Tensions Between Azerbaijan and Armenia

A Short History Lesson

In 1923, the Soviet Union created the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (an oblast is an administrative region or province) within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. This oblast has a 95% ethnically Armenian population. In 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh declared its intention to leave Azerbaijan and join the neighboring Republic of Armenia. While the Soviet Union was able to keep the resulting tension under control, once the USSR began to collapse, armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. While a ceasefire was tentatively reached in 1994 and again in 2020, tensions remain high between the two countries.