#frozen conflicts

For much of modern history, wars were expected to end loudly. Treaties were signed, borders redrawn, flags raised, and victories declared. The world learned to recognize the rituals of closure: peace conferences, televised handshakes, Nobel Prizes, and sweeping diplomatic language about “a new chapter.” But in today’s geopolitical landscape, something different is happening. Across the world,…

For much of the modern era, peace was often defined by what did not happen. Guns fell silent, borders hardened, and negotiations dragged on indefinitely. This uneasy calm — widely known as a “frozen conflicts” — became the accepted norm in many regions of the world. It was a peace without reconciliation, stability without trust, and survival without progress. Nowhere has this reality been more…

Shifting Geopolitical Landscapes: The Resurgence of Frozen Conflicts Geopolitics is often best understood as a delicate equilibrium — a balance of expectations, power, and capabilities. When this balance is disrupted, it can result in chaos and instability. This theme has been a recurring focus in recent discussions, and the examples continue to accumulate. It’s becoming increasingly evident that…

Турция и "карабахский сценарий" деоккупации Грузии: ставим крест на путинском Закавказье (Turkey and the "Karabakh scenario" of the de-occupation of Georgia: putting an end to Putin's South Caucasus) 

Самый сок 2

Conflict conservation in Ukraine’s east follows the Transnistria model

[box]“Frozen” is a Western mischaracterization of Russia’s protracted conflict undertakings against Moldova in Transnistria, against Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and now of the desired end to Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas.

Those conflicts never “froze” in a political sense—not even after the cessation of active hostilities in Moldova in 1992, in Georgia by fits and…

A Ukrainian border post, viewed through bullet holes in a truck's windscreen. Lugansk, June 2014. (Reuters)

Dear all, I apologise for posting this so late - Brexit happened...so today is no longer Thursday, but I am still looking at borders, walls, and barriers on my blog. My ongoing case study in creative statecraft, Russia, is providing an interesting angle on this week’s theme: The use of frozen conflicts - keeping borders forever undefined - and/ or of separatism - potentially altering national borders - as power tools to guarantee regional influence over Russia’s neighbourhood.