Crisis mediation, ripeness, and zones of agreement

In November 1991, an international crisis involving Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted over the status of the region of Nagornyy-Karabakh, an enclave within Muslim Azerbaijan, but populated overwhelmingly by Armenian Christians. The crisis was triggered by the Azeri government’s decision to revoke Nagornyy-Karabakh’s standing as an Autonomous Oblast (or region) of Azerbaijan, a designation it had held since 1923. Within weeks, residents within the enclave had organized a referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of the population cast its vote in favor of independence for Nagornyy-Karabakh.