Political Stalemates: US Scholars Inform Policy Discussion on Eurasia’s Frozen Conflicts

By Sarah Shields

The terms “frozen conflicts” and “unrecognized states” have commonly been used by analysts and researchers when referring to the current ethnic and separatist disputes in Eastern Europe and Eurasia that have continued over the course of many years—and in some cases over a decade—without resolution. In Eurasia alone, there are currently four such “frozen conflicts” resulting from the Soviet legacy: Transnistria (Moldova), Abkhazia (Georgia), South Ossetia (Georgia), and Nargorno-Karabakh (Armenia, Azerbaijan).

As these volatile situations persist, not only do they create repercussions for the countries in which they are situated, but also have far-reaching ramifications for neighboring countries and regions, opening the door to increased threats to their own security in the form of arms and drug trafficking, rampant corruption, and terrorism. Tensions also rise in the international community as a whole over the role that outside actors play in the conflicts. Accusations abound of other countries trying to exploit and exacerbate situations for their own political and geo-strategic benefit.

In light of recent developments in these regions, there has been a greater need and urgency for the international community to examine these issues and conflicts using more sophisticated and multi-perspective approaches. It has become increasingly important in the United States for the academic community to come together with policymakers to study and examine these cases from an interdisciplinary standpoint and thereby broaden the knowledge and understanding of such complicated circumstances. The recent 2008 Regional Policy Symposium on Frozen Conflicts and Unrecognized States in Southeast Europe and Eurasia served as one such mechanism through which scholars could come together to engage in open discussions about these critical issues and work together to develop policy recommendations.

For the two-day event, 10 junior US scholars based at academic institutions in nine states and three countries came to Washington, DC to meet with five senior scholars and discuss their individual, extensive research on frozen conflicts and unrecognized states in Southeast Europe and Eurasia. Based on their experience (much of it on the ground), interviews, and research findings, the junior scholar participants put together four-page executive summaries and presentations. Topics included regional security, economic trends, human rights, cross-border ethnic issues, trade development, and foreign relations. Specific areas of focus included Abkhazia, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Republika Srpska, South Ossetia, and Transnistria.

Each session consisted of a presentation followed by feedback and discussion, which reached beyond traditional scholarly debate and into how the research findings inform international policymaking. As a culmination to the event, following the symposium, the US Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research met with the senior scholars for a debriefing on the symposium’s summaries and conclusions. This kind of interactive dialogue between academic and policymaking communities is a valuable step in understanding and resolving longstanding international impasses.
The Regional Policy Symposium Program (link to program page), initiated in 2000 as a new model for supporting scholarship, provides US students, scholars, and professionals with a forum to examine and discuss current policy research on the countries of Eurasia and Central and East Europe from multi-disciplinary and multi-regional approaches. The research ultimately results in the development and dissemination of policy recommendations to academic and policy communities.

The program, supported by the US Department of State’s Title VIII Program and implemented by IREX, in collaboration with the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson  International Center for Scholars,  focuses on a different region/topic each spring. The theme of the 2009 Regional Policy Symposium will be “Prospects and Challenges for the First Post-Communist Generation: Young People Today in Eurasia and Eastern Europe.” Additonal information on the 2009 Symposium will be available on the IREX website in late summer 2008.