ABSTRACT
Territorial and border disputes are usually the result of ethnic settlements which do not correspond with administration structures and arbitrarily drawn borders between, for example, republics or other administrative districts within a republic such as Autonomous regions. Despite the disintegration of the Soviet Union into 15 independent “national” states in December 1991, the potential for conflicts has not decreased. Status and secession conflicts on the one hand are the result of a minority’s attempt to solve the problem of factual or supposed discrimination by means of a status of autonomy or even national independence either from the beginning of the conflict or as result of its escalation. The rough distinction between territorial, minority and status conflicts does not adequately portray reality. Generally, territorial and border disputes emerge in or about those regions inhabited by minorities. The complexity of potential conflict causes and issues obstruct the pure fact-finding: the real reasons, the aims of the involved parties, the matters of conflict.
