December 1, 1998

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"[EXCERPT] This conflict is without a doubt one of the more intractable disputes in the world today and something of a conundrum for observers of and experts on this region. In view of this frustrating stalemate, coupled with domestic developments in Armenia that have a direct impact on the conflict, the United States Institute of Peace decided to re-examine the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, looking for any possible roads out. On March 24, 1998, the Institute convened a one-day roundtable called "Nagorno-Karabakh: Situation Hopeless? A Search for Solutions to the Impasse." The primary purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for scholars on and from the region to offer their ideas to American policymakers and negotiators on possible ways to move the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh "off the dime" on which it has been stuck since at least 1993. In addition to possible solutions to the present predicament, the roundtable sought to examine the ways in which domestic politics in Armenia and Azerbaijan influence (usually negatively) the ability to reach a settlement. Finally, there was an analysis of more complicated but equally crucial ingredients--such as national identities, self-perceptions, national myths, and nation-building -- and how they have directly affected the motivation to battle over Nagorno-Karabakh and continue to have a profound influence on the attitudes of the parties to the dispute."