ABSTRACT
While the Soviet Union, one of the most highly militarized states in world history, may have met a relatively peaceful end, the violence and profound instability generated by its demise continues to afflict residents of the South Caucasus. Each of the three nations composing the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – faces entrenched, low-intensity conflicts that threaten its territorial integrity, sap national resources, and contribute to the criminalization of the region’s economy by fostering widespread contraband trade. These conflicts have also resulted in the displacement of large numbers of persons, straining these newly independent nations and making their position all the more precarious.
