The Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution under George Mason University hosted an international conference on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem on October 15. More than 40 experts from the USA, Azerbaijan and Armenia discussed possible ways of breaking the dead end in this conflict’s settlement.
At the conference, entitled “Assessing the Deadlock in the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process”, Azerbaijan was represented by Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic Studies Gulshan Pashayeva, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elman Abdullayev and representative of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy Taleh Ziyadov. Armenia will be represented by Tigran Mkrtchyan from the MFA and several civil society members. A number of prominent US experts, such as John Macdonald and Peter Swibberg, also took part in the event.
Generally, all the experts addressed the meeting with constructive proposals and were ready to discuss all possibilities with their opponents.
Tamarea Palondyan, an expert from Canada, brought to public attention the fact that attitudes towards the conflict and the possibility of a military resolution in both countries differs according to gender: men are more supportive of an aggressive policy than women, so she suggested that women should play a more active part in the conflict’s settlement.
According to American specialists, if the current pace is maintained, the conflict won’t be resolved within 15 years unless some extraordinary event influences the process.
